Hidden Love
by Sillica4Ever
Summary: Sasuke, after 4 years, is finally brought back to Konoha by the shinobis of Rookie 9. He expects Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, and most importantly, Sakura, to welcome him back with open arms. What he doesn't expect is Sakura's behavior and the story behind it.
1. The Beginning

Hello guys!! :)

My AWESOME, AMAZING, NEW story is finally here!!

I really hope you guys will enjoy this new one, and I will TRY to update much faster than I have been for the last one, since it IS summer vacation :) woot woot~

But yeah, anyways, have fun reading!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. If I DID, Sasuke would have already killed Itachi and come back to Konoha realizing that he absolutely, positively, loves Sakura :)**

* * *

**Hidden Love**

**Chapter 1- The Beginning**

It was a beautiful June afternoon in the Hidden Leaf Village, more so known as Konoha, with birds chirping, flowers dancing in the wind, and a 16 year old boy screaming his lungs out and running fast as the speed of light.

Wait, a 16 year old boy?

And all the people of the village knew exactly who that one individual was even before turning their heads to see him.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Everyone smiled as they heard the boy call out his best friend/teammate/sister's name with all the energy he had.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura!" yelled Naruto as he ran with inhumane speed right into the main entrance of the Konoha Hospital.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Guess what?" said Naruto when he spotted the pink haired medic-nin/ kunoichi tending to a patient in a wheelchair.

Sakura looked up from her patient and growled in anger, "Naruto! Stop making such a ruckus! What's so important that you have to disrupt my work and bother my patients with your obnoxious voice?!" yelled Sakura as she pushed Naruto outside of the hospital while apologizing to her patients for her friend.

Sakura sat Naruto down onto a nearby bench, "Okay Naruto. What's up?"

"Sakura-chan! Orochimaru is dead! And so is Kabuto!" yelled Naruto, smiling with joy.

"What? Orochimaru AND Kabuto are dead?! How? Who killed them?" asked Sakura, shaking Naruto by the shoulders with all her strength, demanding the answer.

Naruto suddenly frowned and was wary, nervous, and afraid. Should he tell her? But then he decided to tell her straight out, since she would have to know anyway.

Then he slowly said, "The ninja who killed Orochimaru and Kabuto happened to be one of Orochimaru's most trusted men. He was the strongest out of all of them, although he's just 16, like us. His name is…Uchiha Sasuke."

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Yes, that's his name."

"Oh…I see. I guess our village will forever remain grateful to him for destroying our worst enemy."

"…"

* * *

**Two Months Later…**

A team of ninjas left through the Konoha gates with haste. They received information from the Hokage on the whereabouts of Uchiha Sasuke and were assigned immediately to take on a retrieval mission. This team consisted of Naruto as the leader, then Sai, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Shino, Neji, and Lee. As the team left the gates, Tsunade watched them leave from the Hokage Tower with a wary eye.

Usually, Tsunade would NEVER let Naruto lead a mission, even though he became pretty mature and was the most likely candidate to be the 6th Hokage, nor would she ever let Rookie 9 go on a mission as one since they were the top shinobis of Konoha and needed elsewhere. But, due to Kakashi and all the other jounins working on A-ranked missions in different parts of the country, this was all that she could do. Besides, she knew that the closest people to Sasuke were Naruto and Sakura. Sakura couldn't go on the mission due to certain circumstances, so she just decided that Naruto would be best at leading the team.

_"Naruto, bring him back, for everyone's, especially Sakura's, sake," _thought Tsunade.

* * *

**Meanwhile, with the team…**

As the team made their way through the thick forests, they were all thinking the same thing: the last time they ever went on a mission together as the Rookie 9 was when they were on the retrieval mission of Sasuke 4 years ago, when he was taken by the Sound Four.

"_Déjà vu much?" _they all thought.

"Oh boy! It's been forever since my fellow comrades and I have been on a mission together! And now we are on this journey to rescue our beloved comrade! May the spirit of youth prevail!" said Lee happily in his green suit.

"Troublesome…" said Shikamaru lazily.

"Neji, how did you stay sane all these years with that dope?" questioned Kiba as he looked at the overjoyed green-suited man with disgust.

"Pretty simple, actually. Tenten and I just ignore him. But it's hard to ignore your sensei…" said Neji.

"Poor Neji," said Shino quietly.

"Yeah, poor Neji. Oy, Shikamaru, did you happen to pack any extra chips in your bag?" said Chouji while finishing off his 5th bag of chips that day.

"Actually, Chouji, I did, but I'll give it to you later," said Shikamaru.

"Hey Naruto! Why are you so quiet? Are you lacking your youthful spirit today?" asked Lee, moving up to the front of the pack.

"Ah, no, it's nothing, Lee. I'm fine," said Naruto as he smiled at Lee and then frowned while looking to the front.

"_Sasuke-teme, this time, you BETTER come back to Konoha without protest," _thought Naruto.

"_Sakura-chan, don't worry. I'll bring him back for you and make everything right," _thought Naruto as he thought of the good old days with Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi-sensei.

* * *

**Meanwhile in Konoha…**

Sakura was working laboriously around the hospital, which was now basically her home and life. For the past 4 years, Sakura trained as hard as she can with Tsunade. Now, she has almost, if not, already, surpassed Tsunade in skill, ability, power, and medical intelligence. She was now known as the greatest kunoichi and medic-nin in Konoha, and no one dared to take that title from her.

Now, being the strongest medic-nin in Konoha did have its pros and cons. She was given the respect and called "Sakura-sama" or even "Haruno-sama" all around to show high honor and respect. But, since she WAS the greatest, all patients wanted to be treated by her, especially the guys. So therefore, she had the most responsibility in the hospital.

Everyday, Sakura worked her butt off at the hospital, sometimes even spending the night there because of a critical patient. But, unlike the other doctors and nurses, Sakura was happy with this. She never complained about the numerous of hours that she had to work, and never broke into a frown in front of a patient. To her, her life was great and perfect.

While Sakura was walking down the white hallway to get to the room of a new patient, she met Tsunade and Shizune talking to a doctor. Sakura, with happiness, walked over to her sensei and her assistant.

"Shishou! Shizune-sama!" said Sakura as she walked over.

Sakura noticed the wary glance that both Tsunade and Shizune gave to each other before saying something to Sakura, "Ohayo, Sakura," said Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama, what's wrong? And don't you dare lie to me because I know when-"

"Nothing's wrong, Sakura. Don't get overacted," said Tsunade.

"Then what's with the look you gave Shizune-sama?" asked Sakura.

Tsunade sighed, sent Shizune to the Hokage Tower, and then faced Sakura, "Sakura, I want you to take a rest from working for 2 days."

"What? Why?" said Sakura.

"You're overworking yourself too much these days. It's time that you get a rest," said Tsunade.

"I thank you for that, but I still don't understand why all of a sudden," said Sakura.

"Well, I just want you to rest. And after 2 days, you can come back and work, and I'll probably have a patient waiting for you," said Tsunade, tiredly.

"How do you know that you'll have a patient waiting for me?" asked Sakura.

"Sheesh, for a 16 year old, you ask a lot of questions. Well, Naruto and the Rookie 9 guys just went on a retrieval mission of someone very important and special," said Tsunade.

_"Important and special to you, Sakura," _shethought.

"So when he comes back, we need to be ready for whatever state he may be in. He could be scratched and bruised here and there, or he could be losing his life. Since you are the strongest medic-nin we have, you will be in charge of taking care of him," said Tsunade.

"Okay then. I'll follow your commands, shishou," said Sakura, heading towards her patient's room.

"Oh, and Sakura?" said Tsunade.

Sakura turned around, "yes, shishou?"

"Please get a good rest before you come back to work. You're gonna need it," said Tsunade.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. Arigatou," said Sakura, smiling as she walked into the patient's room.

_"Sakura, I just hope you'll be better once Sasuke comes back…" _thought Tsunade as she headed towards the Hokage Tower to resume her duties.

* * *

**Later…**

Sakura finished her work at the hospital and was on her way home when her stomach growled.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to eat lunch today because of that one patient with the heart failure," said Sakura.

Then she came across Ichiraku, the famous ramen stand. She went in and sat down on the middle stool.

"Hey Sakura-san! What can I get for you today?" said the owner.

"Hmm…one seafood ramen please," said Sakura.

"Coming right up!"

While Sakura waited for her meal, she began to remember the good old days of Team 7 at Ichiraku's. Before she could think anymore, a bowl of seafood ramen was placed in front of her.

"Itadakimasu!" said Sakura as she began to eat.

After she was done, she paid for the ramen and started to head on home.

"Hmm…so Naruto and all the guys went on missions….How odd of Tsunade-sama to send them all together at once," said Sakura.

"She said that they're after someone important and special…but how important and special could this person be in order to send all the Rookie 9 guys?" asked Sakura to herself.

Sakura suddenly started to have a headache from the back of her head, but chose to ignore it, "Hn, whatever. I'll probably see this person when they get back," said Sakura as she unlocked her door and stepped into her apartment.

* * *

"Ok, let's rest here for the night," said Naruto and everyone started to put their packs down and collected firewood.

While everyone did this, Naruto just looked out into the horizon, where the sun was shining rays of pink, orange, and blue. When they touched the silver and gray clouds in the sky, the whole scenery was a masterpiece.

"Wow…just like Team 7…" said Naruto as he thought about all the days of Team 7 and his wonderful friends and sensei.

_"Sasuke-teme…It's finally time for you to come back home. And I'll be making sure that I do exactly that. I'll drag you back to Konoha if I have to, for me, for Kakashi-sensei, for Rookie 9, and most importantly, for Sakura-chan," _thought Naruto.

_"Sakura-chan…I want you to be prepared for when I bring back Sasuke-teme. I promised you 4 years ago, and Uzumaki Naruto never breaks his promise. I WILL bring Sasuke back, and everything will return to normal. We'll be able to have Team 7 again," _thought Naruto when he was abruptly interrupted.

"Hey Naruto, help us set up camp before it gets too dark," said Shikamaru.

"Okay! I'm coming!" said Naruto.

Before he went, he turned back to the sunset and yelled, "Sasuke-teme! I WILL bring you back!"

* * *

Woot Woot!!

First chapter of 'Hidden Love'!!

Haha well I hope you guys enjoyed it and as always,

**Read and Review!!**

Thanks!

Love, Cilla :)


	2. The Revenge and The Reunited

Okay, now it's time for Chapter 2!

I've been pretty laid back this summer, getting lazy about everything...especially my summer homework… :(

But I didn't get lazy about this story! I basically have the whole story planned out in my head! :)

So yes, let's move on to Chapter 2!

* * *

**Chapter 2- The Revenge and The Reunited**

**At Konoha…**

The alarm clock rang at exactly 5:30 a.m. to wake up a sleeping, pink-haired beauty to get ready for work.

"Ughh…it's 5:30 already? I gotta get ready for work," said Sakura groggily as she got up from her bed, stretched her arms and shoulders, and trudged over to the bathroom for a shower.

After the shower, she came out and dressed up in her regular attire: a pink skirt with short black pants underneath with a black sleeveless shirt and a red vest on top. She put her red forehead protector on top of her head just like a headband. She grabbed an apple, put on her shoes, and left her apartment onto the still-dark, crispy morning of Konoha. As she walked to the Konoha Hospital, she passed the Hokage Tower with lights all on indicating that there was action going on inside. Then she thought of the conversation with Tsunade that she had yesterday and suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.

"Tsunade-sama told me to take a break for 2 days…man I'm so stupid! I could've slept more! Ugh! Stupid Sakura!" said Sakura as she slapped her forehead twice.

"Well…since I'm up anyway, I'll just take a walk around town," she said as she resumed her walk from a fast, hasty one to a more calm and slow one.

As she walked around the sleeping town, she was able to think more freely about the new information that Tsunade had leaked to her yesterday in their conversation.

"Hmm…so the Rookie 9 shinobis are on a retrieval mission of someone important and special… but who could be THAT important? Hmm…unless this person is an S-ranked criminal! But if it's a retrieval mission, then this person is from Konoha? But I don't remember any S-ranked shinobi from Konoha…" thought Sakura as she randomly sat down on a bench near the Konoha gates.

As she tried to think more about it, the back of her head started to throb.

"W-what is this feeling? This feeling like something's missing, like this one thing is the answer to all the questions in my mind…what is it?" thought Sakura as she slowly got up and ran to her apartment.

She couldn't take it anymore…because she suddenly felt very empty…

* * *

**Later at Noon with the Rookie 9 …**

"Naruto, you baka! Hurry and wake up!" yelled Shikamaru as he literally kicked Naruto off of his sleeping bag and onto the hard, cold dirt floor.

"Hinata-chan….w-wha?" said Naruto, finally sitting up and rubbing his eyes with the backs of his hands.

"Hurry and get ready Naruto! Neji has some vital information for us!" said Shikamaru.

"Neji?" said Naruto as he looked over at Neji, who was sitting on a log looking towards Naruto with disgust on his face due to the fact that Naruto just called out his cousin's name in his sleep.

After Naruto got properly dressed, cleaned, and ready, he sat with the others on the logs surrounding the campfire, where they were already having breakfast. Naruto grabbed a plate and dug in hungrily. Once he was done, he looked up at the others who were finishing up as well and cleared his sleep-thickened voice to speak.

"Okay, so Shikamaru told me that Neji has some important information for us. So Neji, tell us what's up," said Naruto.

"Okay. I think all of you, especially you, Naruto, will be very interested in this new information, because it's about Uchiha Sasuke," said Neji, looking straight into Naruto's eyes as realization hit them.

"Neji, spill it," said Naruto, with all seriousness now.

"When I was taking a walk around camp early this morning, I was just checking the surroundings with my Byakugan to make sure everything was okay. Well, everything was fine until I detected some high levels of chakra around 10 miles away. I became very aware of this individual because of this person's chakra. It was overwhelming and nothing like I've ever seen before, except in Naruto. I was about to track this person down just in case he might decide to attack us, but someone else appeared before this person and began to fight. This new person had some high leveled chakra too, but not as much as the first one. When I finally was able to fully focus on the two fighting individuals, I could see that the first man was Uchiha Sasuke, and the second was Uchiha Itachi. I knew that the battle would last quite a while and came back to camp trying to wake you guys up so we could investigate," said Neji.

"Sasuke…so close…let's get him now!" said Naruto, standing up abruptly.

"Not quite, Naruto," said Neji.

"Why not?!" said Naruto, angrily.

"First, as Sasuke's "best friend," you should already know what his goal in life is. He wants to kill Itachi, so let him have this chance. I'd rather face him after he killed Itachi rather than facing him after he lost his chance. After their battle, Sasuke's probably going to be worn down, so we'll be able to take him easily," said Neji.

"What if he doesn't win? What if he loses?" said Naruto.

"For being his one and only friend, you really don't know much about him. Naruto, this is Sasuke we're talking about. Do you really think Sasuke's gonna lose to Itachi? Neji has already proven to us that Sasuke's chakra is greater and stronger than Itachi's, so it's obvious that Sasuke's gonna be the one to make it out of the battle alive. Sheesh, you're so troublesome," said Shikamaru, leaning lazily on the log.

"Okay then. For now, we're gonna try to get closer to the battle and see what's up and how things are going between Sasuke and Itachi," said Naruto as he got up and started walking over to his tent to pack up and head out.

* * *

**In the Woods…**

"Sasuke…you are no match for your older brother…" said Itachi, breathing heavily with the lack of energy on one side of the clearing.

On the other side, Sasuke was also tired from the long and intense battle that they just had. However, he was in better condition than Itachi.

"Itachi…you are NOT my brother! My brother wasn't a monster!" yelled Sasuke, his red Sharingan eyes swirling in madness.

"You're too immature and young. You'll never understand me," said Itachi bitingly.

"I don't need to understand a monster like you! A monster that has no heart and that has enough hate to kill his own family!" yelled Sasuke.

"Hmm…kinda like how you are right now?" said Itachi questioningly.

Sasuke suddenly froze. Itachi was right. He was now a monster. A monster just like his brother became. He threw away all the happiness he had just to avenge his clan. Just to go after his brother.

_"Konoha…Team 7…Naruto…Kakashi-sensei…" _thought Sasuke.

Every little memory of the village and his beloved team ran straight through his mind. But there was something he was missing, something very important to him.

_"Sakura…" _thought Sasuke.

She was the one girl that didn't love him for his looks…but rather for who he truly was. Although he never admitted it, he knew that Sakura's love was genuine, yet he rejected it like any other fangirl crush. A part of him told him then that he hated her because she was annoying. Another told him then that she would be in danger if she got any close to him and that he had to protect her from that danger. But he never denied that Sakura's love for him was the truth.

As Sasuke reminisced about the past, Itachi teleported behind Sasuke with a kunai to his throat.

"See Sasuke? You are still filled with emotions and feelings for your pesky friends. You will never become as strong as I am if you aren't filled with hate," whispered Itachi.

Sasuke smirked and quickly teleported out of Itachi's grasp. Itachi was puzzled. How did Sasuke escape so fast?

"You say that I can only get stronger with hate. But, you are very wrong, Itachi. After 4 years of not being with my friends, I realize that now. You can only get stronger with love," said Sasuke, a new form of energy building inside of him.

Itachi could feel that now too, this new form of energy building up within Sasuke. It was like he just all of a sudden got all the energy he needed and rejuvenated himself. For once, Itachi had nothing to say to Sasuke.

"Now, with the power of my friends, I will kill you and avenge the Uchiha clan," said Sasuke, grasping his katana tightly in his right hand and leaning forward to strike at Itachi.

"Hn...let's see how much your friends can help you now," said Itachi as he ran to Sasuke with a kunai in hand.

_"Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, don't fail me now," _thought Sasuke as he charged towards Itachi with his Chidori-infused katana.

* * *

**With the Rookie 9…**

As Naruto and the others ran, jumped, and dodged through the thick forest in search of Sasuke, Naruto felt something deep in his heart…

…like a precious bond had been connected again…

"_Sasuke-teme…what's going on?" _thought Naruto.

"Naruto! Look!" yelled Kiba, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts.

"What is it?" said Naruto, looking at the direction that Kiba pointed at.

Deep in the forest, Naruto can see there was a clearing…with two men fighting each other.

"SASUKE!" yelled Naruto, running towards the clearing.

"Naruto! Wait!" yelled Shikamaru as all the others started to run to stop Naruto.

"SASUKE-TEME!" yelled Naruto.

* * *

"Dobe?" said Sasuke as he looked over into the thick forest. He could make out a person running towards the clearing.

After a few seconds, he could see Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, and others behind him.

"SASUKE-TEME!" yelled Naruto.

Before Naruto and the others could get closer, Sasuke emitted a bright lightning from his hands that grew and covered the whole clearing. Once Naruto reached and touched it, it zapped his hands. Sasuke created a full-blown Chidori shield to keep them out, while keeping Itachi in.

"Teme! Let me in!" yelled Naruto, but Sasuke chose to ignore him.

"Hmm...so they have come to take you back home," said Itachi, looking over at an enraged Naruto punching the Chidori shield over and over again.

"Yes, they have. And I will go with them as soon as I'm done with you," growled Sasuke as he lunged for Itachi with his katana.

* * *

"Teme! Let me in!" yelled Naruto.

"Naruto! Stop!" yelled Neji.

"Naruto! Stop and listen to me! Listen to me you baka!" yelled Shikamaru, using his Kage Mane no Jutsu (Shadow Bind) to stop Naruto and to have him look at his team.

"I-I'm sorry guys. It's just that I want to help Sasuke defeat that bastard…" said Naruto, finally calming down.

"Naruto, listen. Like Neji said before, this is Sasuke's goal, not yours. Sasuke wants to go after Itachi by himself, and that's why he created this shield around them: to keep us out and keep Itachi in. If you're Sasuke's best friend, you should support him with whatever decision he makes. Also, Itachi's not an easy shinobi to be against. He's tough and merciless. So when the battle ends, Sasuke's probably gonna be the winner, but he'll be pretty worn down. So that's our chance to go after him and bring him back home. Don't forget about our mission, Naruto," said Shikamaru.

"Okay, I understand. And Shikamaru, that's the longest you've ever talked in your whole life," said Naruto, smirking at the genius.

"Yes, I know. It was getting very troublesome. But nonetheless, you needed that speech," said Shikamaru, finally releasing Naruto from his Kage Mane.

"Shikamaru, you should go into counseling! You would be the key to reviving the youthfulness in our Konoha teenagers!" said Lee.

"BANG!"

"You're welcome," said Sai as he walked back to the place where his equipment was laid out.

"Sai, you didn't have to go that far. You could have just told him to shut up and think about Sakura, because that always works," said Neji.

"Eh, well it was the first thing that popped into my mind," said Sai as he looked over at the unconscious Lee with a big bump on his head from Sai's scroll.

"Now all we can do is wait for Sasuke-teme…" said Naruto as he looked over at the clearing, where the two last Uchihas were fighting head-to-head.

* * *

"Sasuke, no matter how hard you try, you cannot win against me," said Itachi, peering at Sasuke 10 feet away.

"Hn. We'll see who's to judge that," said Sasuke as he maneuvered around Itachi, trying to find a weak spot.

Sasuke then lunged at Itachi from the side and stabbed the katana into his stomach. At the same time, Itachi stabbed Sasuke with his kunai. Sasuke hit one of Itachi's vital organs, and Itachi was falling to the ground, breathing heavily and bleeding from the stomach. Although Sasuke was also stabbed in the stomach, Itachi missed a vital organ by an inch, so Sasuke was a little bit better. Sasuke then also fell to the ground breathing heavily, next to Itachi.

"Sasuke…I want you to listen to me this one last time…" whispered Itachi, his life already being drained away.

Sasuke could sense the truthfulness in Itachi's words and listened.

"Sasuke…I know I destroyed your life and our family, but at that time, that was all I could do. I had people threaten to kill the one precious thing in my life if I didn't kill the whole Uchiha clan," whispered Itachi.

"And who was this person?" said Sasuke, angry at this person for being the reason of his parents' death.

"That person was…you," whispred Itachi, coughing up blood.

Sasuke froze, _"me?"_

"People threatened to kill you unless I killed the rest of the Uchiha clan. From the very beginning, ever since you been taught the Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Grand Fireball), I knew you were different than all the Uchihas, even me. I knew there was something deep inside of you that made you different from all the cold-hearted Uchihas. And that was your friends. You may seem no different that the other Uchihas now, but you ARE different. I knew I needed to save you more than anyone else and made that decision. I'm unhappy that you devoted your life to coming after me, but I'm truly happy to die by your hands," whispered Itachi.

"Itachi…I'm sorry," whispered Sasuke, slowly getting up and looking at his brother.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything wrong. But promise me one thing, little brother," whispered Itachi.

"Yes?" said Sasuke.

"I want you to forget about the past. Your past is ruining your present, and ultimately your future. I want you to live a great life with your friends and repair all the damages done by me. I want you to revive the Uchiha clan and make it better than it ever was," whispered Itachi, tears slowly rolling down his eyes.

"Itachi…" said Sasuke.

"And Sasuke?"

"Yes?"

"You'll always be my precious little brother, and I'll watch over you. I love you, Sasuke," said Itachi, as he begun to close his eyes.

"Itachi! No! I'm sorry! Please! Don't leave me!" yelled Sasuke as he collapsed on top of Itachi, tears pouring like waterfalls from his eyes.

…But…Itachi was already on his way to heaven, where he would watch over his little brother for all eternity…

"No! Itachi!" yelled Sasuke as he sobbed and cried. Subconsciously, he let go of his Chidori shield and the retrieval team came rushing into the clearing.

The team froze 20 feet away from Sasuke and Itachi's body because they were so surprised of Sasuke like that, crying and sobbing, and didn't know how to react.

"Naruto… since you know him the best, I think you should go to him," whispered Shikmaru.

Naruto nodded and slowly walked the 20 feet and kneeled next to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I'm sorry. But everything's gonna be fine now. We're here to take you and Itachi's body home. Cmon teme… everything's fine. It's okay," whispered Naruto as he slowly patted his friend's shoulder.

"Naruto… I want to do it the traditional way," said Sasuke as he slowly got up.

He used his Katon Jutsu and burned Itachi's body. Once Itachi's body was in ashes, he took the jar that Naruto gave him and put the ashes into it. As he finished and slowly got up, Sasuke started to waver.

"Sasuke," said Naruto as he caught Sasuke before he fell to the ground.

Sasuke gave the jar to Naruto, who gave it to Shikamaru for safe keeping. Then Sasuke, breathing heavily from exhaustion as a result from the battle, dropped to the floor.

"Sasuke!" yelled Naruto as he quickly tried to bandage the wound getting deeper in Sasuke's stomach from Itachi's kunai.

"Naruto…" whispered Sasuke.

"Yeah?"

"…Where's…Sakura…" whispered Sasuke before he fell unconscious.

Naruto could only look grimly at Sasuke's face, and then at the faces of his teammates, who were thinking about the same thing.

_"Yeah Sasuke…where's Sakura…"_ they all thought.

* * *

Woot woot!

End of Chapter 2!

And wow, thanks everyone for already putting up reviews for the first chapter!

I was sooo overjoyed to see that many people were enjoying this FanFic as much as I am!

I have a lot planned for this story, so keep in touch!

Cilla :)


	3. I'm Sorry

Hey guys!

Wow, I'm already starting Chapter 3!

This is the first time that I'm actually not procrastinating :) Yay me!

Well, enough talk, let's start the chapter!

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, because it would have turned into a romance by now. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 3- I'm Sorry**

It's been hours since the retrieval team left the clearing and was heading towards Konoha. Now it was night and the forest was dead quiet except for the sounds of the shinobis' footsteps on the branch of the trees. All the shinobis were tired, especially Naruto, who was holding an unconscious Sasuke, but of course being Naruto, he didn't show it at all.

"Naruto…we have to rest here. If we go any further, all of us are gonna faint, especially you," said Neji.

"Sasuke needs medical treatment right now! If we stop and rest, his injuries are gonna worsen!" said Naruto.

"Don't worry about that, Naruto. I have something that's gonna help Sasuke," said Neji as he sat down leaning onto a tree, while the others sat down on the floor, taking their packs off of their sore backs.

"What is it?" said Naruto as he gently laid Sasuke on his back on the ground while he sat next to him.

"Since none of us are medic-nins, Tsunade-sama gave me this just in case anything happened," said Neji as he pulled out a small blue vial from his pack.

"This vial, when drunk, can freeze all the wounds in a person's body from getting worse or bleeding. This lasts for 5 hours, so after 5 hours, the wounds are going to start again," said Neji as he handed it to Naruto.

"Wow…Tsunade-baa-chan made this?" said Naruto, holding up the bottle of blue vial.

"Actually no. She told me that Sakura-chan made this," said Neji, leaning back against the tree.

"Sakura-chan…she's always with us, helping us when we need it. Now, she's gonna help Sasuke," said Naruto.

Naruto opened up Sasuke's mouth and poured the vial in. He held it there until Sasuke drank it, and when he did, Sasuke opened his eyes and sat up coughing and gasping.

"Ugh! W-What was in that?" said Sasuke as Naruto patted his back.

"It was a vial to stop your wounds from getting worse. It lasts only 5 hours, so we're gonna have to rest fast and then get you to Konoha," said Naruto.

"Hn," said Sasuke.

"Oh, and Sakura-chan made it," said Naruto.

Naruto could see Sasuke momentarily freeze at hearing Sakura's name, but he didn't know why Sasuke was like that.

"Hn," said Sasuke, as he walked over to a tree and sat leaning against it.

He closed his eyes from seeing a confused Naruto to the rest who were just watching him. He wanted to fall asleep, but he couldn't because he was thinking about a certain person.

_"Sakura…" _thought Sasuke.

He was thinking about all the times that she helped him with things from something simple as lifting a package or helping him drink water to things complicated and hard such as helping him through the curse seal and getting him back to Konoha to get treated. Now, she was helping him again with her vial.

_"I always called her weak and annoying, but she wasn't at all. She was the best kunoichi in Rookie 9 and she always worked to make others happy…especially me," _thought Sasuke.

Then he thought about that night when he left Konoha.

_"I was so mad then because it was Sakura that tried to stop me from leaving, and that made it harder than it seemed. She was so close to stopping me from leaving with all her talk about making me happy and giving me the life I wished for. Even with everything that she had done for me, I just left her on a cold, hard bench," _thought Sasuke.

_**"You don't deserve her at all, Sasuke. After all that you've done to her, I doubt she's gonna forgive you," **_said his inner self.

_"Sakura…I'm sorry…" _thought Sasuke as he slowly fell into a deep sleep…

* * *

**The Next Day…**

"Haruno-sama! Haruno-sama! Wake up!"

"Ugh…what is it?" said Sakura as she got up from her bed and looked down from her window, where a shinobi was calling her name.

"Tsunade-sama said your break is over! She said she needs help with a critical patient right now!" yelled the shinobi.

"Hai! I'll be there quickly!" said Sakura as she took a quick shower, dressed in her regular attire, and headed out the door, running as fast as she can to the Konoha hospital.

She ran into the hospital, put on her white doctor gown that a nurse handed to her, and hastened straight for the operation room. When she got to the entrance, she saw Naruto and the other Rookie 9 guys sitting there, waiting.

_"So this is the special person they brought back home," _thought Sakura as she acknowledged Naruto with her eyes.

"Sakura-chan, I beg of you, please save his life," said Naruto, pleading to Sakura with his eyes.

"Hai. I will try my best," said Sakura.

_"So this guy is close to Naruto?!" _thought Sakura as she saw Naruto brighten up.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan. I know you'll do your best," he said, as he started talking to the other guys.

Sakura walked into the operation room, where Tsunade was already working on the patient. She walked over and asked Tsunade about the patient.

"What's his condition?" said Sakura.

"He has a few minor bruises and cuts that I can treat easily. But there's this horrible wound in the abdomen area that is gonna be hard to treat. Neji used your blue potion that I gave him to stop the bleeding, but I'm afraid that the wound started all over again, worsening every second. He has 4 broken ribs, but fortunately, none of them punctured his vital organs. So while I heal the minor injuries, Sakura, I'm afraid you're gonna have to heal the major ones," said Tsunade, looking over at the patient's face.

Sakura was so eager to look over, but she decided to get a better view of this guy when he was better. Where did she gain this kind of patience? Well, she got it over the years of hard-core training. So, Sakura took off her black gloves and pulled up her sleeves.

"Okay, let's do this," she said.

* * *

**Two Days Later…**

"Ugh…Where am I?" said a voice as he got up from the uncomfortable bed. He smoothed his jet-black raven hair with his right hand and looked up. He was terribly blinded by the bright fluorescent lights above him from not opening his eyes for a while. When his eyes refocused, he looked around at the room and could only see one color: white. So by this knowledge, he knew he was in the Konoha Hospital. He groaned in despair. He just absolutely HATED hospitals. Finally when he looked down, he managed to see an outline of a body sleeping in a chair next to his bed.

_"No matter how much he has grown, he's still Dobe_," thought Sasuke.

"Dobe, get up!" yelled Sasuke.

"…Huh? Wha?" said Naruto, lifting his head from the bed and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Dobe, get your lazy butt up. How long have I been in the hospital?" said Sasuke, trying his best to avoid the puddle of drool formed by Naruto while trying to remain on the bed.

"Hmm…about 2, 3 days? You've been out for quite a while, Teme," said Naruto, finally straightening up in the chair.

"Hn, I see," said Sasuke.

Suddenly, the door opened and Tsunade walked in.

"Ah, Uchiha. You're finally up," said Tsunade.

"Hn."

"Well, I needed to tell you a couple of things before I leave you to your comfort."

"Hai."

"First, since the renovation of the Uchiha Compound isn't finished yet-"

"The renovation of MY compound? Who said you could-"

"Uchiha, let me finish before rudely interrupting me," said Tsunade, irritated at Sasuke's usual behavior.

"Since the renovation of the Uchiha Compound isn't finished yet, and since you are in no shape to be able to live on your own, your friend and teammate, Uzumaki Naruto, has decided to lend you the hospitality of his home. He will also be watching you for any suspicious activities and report them directly to me."

"Oh joy…" said Sasuke, looking over at Naruto, who was smiling his goofy grin back.

"Second, since you are not in any condition to undergo any interrogation at the moment, you will report to the Hokage Tower a month from today to receive your punishment," said Tsunade.

"Hn," said Sasuke, although deep inside, he was relieved by the fact that he had more time to prove himself worthy to the village.

"Third, although your body has made a quick recovery, you must not leave the house to do excessive and hard-core training. If you do, you will have to suffer the consequences. Just try not to overdo yourself. Think you can do that?"

"Hn," said Sasuke, although he knew that he would break it anyway.

"And last but not least, the doctor who healed and treated you is on her way at this moment. She will check your health condition and give you the go on whether you can leave the hospital today or not. She used all of her chakra the day you came and had to use a potion on herself just so she could heal you less painfully. But you don't remember any of that, do you?"

"Hn," said Sasuke, trying to remember anything that happened since he came through the Konoha gates 3 days ago.

"Hmm, figures. Well when she comes to check, I want you to thank her for her hard work. If it wasn't for her, you would have been dead by now," said Tsunade.

"Hn," said Sasuke, actually grateful for the doctor and flinching at the thought of him dead.

"Well, I best be on my way. Naruto, don't forget to come to the Hokage training tonight at 6," said Tsunade, already on her way out the door.

"Hai, Tsunade-baa-chan!" said Naruto, waving as she left.

"Hn, Hokage training?" said Sasuke, smirking at his best friend.

"Yeah, that's right, Teme! I'm gonna be the next Hokage! Tsunade-baa-chan thinks I'm good enough!" said Naruto, joyfulness leaking with every word.

"Well, congrats, Dobe. Although you don't deserve it," said Sasuke.

"Hey! You take that back, Teme!"

"Make me!"

"_**Knock! Knock!"**_

"Oh crap! I forgot to tell you something, Teme!" said Naruto hurriedly, while looking serious.

"What?"

"Your doctor is-"

"Good morning, gentlemen," said the woman, who had her face behind the clipboard at the moment.

Naruto stiffened at the sound of the new voice, but gave Sasuke a reassuring smile. Sasuke felt that this voice was familiar, but he just couldn't pinpoint it.

_"What's the matter with him? I've never seen him so serious, so frightened, yet so excited," _thought Sasuke, as he looked over at his "doctor" and tried to recognize the person.

"Sakura-chan…" whispered Naruto as Sasuke froze at the sight of the shining pink hair and what Naruto had said to confirm it.

"Hey Naruto- what's wrong with you?" said a light, soothing voice from behind the clipboard.

"It's nothing. You're here to check on your patient?" said Naruto as he glanced over at Sasuke, who was still frozen staring straight at the clipboard, trying to see the person behind it.

"Yes. Now he's been in critical condition, so since he's going to your house, you must take good care-"

"Sakura," whispered Sasuke.

Sakura suddenly stiffened at the new voice and slowly put her clipboard down from her face and her eyes widened in shock.

Sasuke could see how much Sakura had changed since last year when he saw her and her team at Orochimaru's hideout. Although she kept her hair short, it was starting to get longer again. She also grew an inch taller; her body became curvier and more prominent, even in her white doctor coat. He saved her eyes for last. When he saw her green emerald eyes a year ago, they were shining and bright with anger, rage, fear, worry, and coldness. Now, when he saw her eyes, he expected something along what he saw then. But, oh, he was terribly wrong. The emerald eyes of Sakura wasn't hers; it wasn't shining and glowing and full of emotions like it should be; it was a dull green without any emotion in them at all. Only by her shocked form was he able to identify any form of emotion.

"Sakura," said Sasuke, a little calmer this time.

"Uh, gentlemen, please excuse me," said Sakura as she suddenly ran out of the room and zipped between the doctors and nurses in the hallway, making her way through them.

Sasuke was just about to run out the door and catch Sakura when Naruto held him back.

"Sasuke, I think it's better if I go to her right now. I'll explain everything to you later," said Naruto as he ran out the door and down the hallway that Sakura had gone down a minute ago.

Sasuke laid back down on the bed and covered his eyes with his arm. He was replaying the scene that had just happened less than 10 seconds ago over and over again in his mind.

Her voice. Her eyes. Her face. Her frozen composure. Her running away from him.

Her. Her. Her.

That was all that he could think about: Haruno Sakura.

Why had she run away? What had happened at that moment?

"_**How could you be so stupid?! Of course she ran away from you!" **_his inner said.

"_What do you mean?" _said Sasuke.

"_**Look, all that you've ever done for her is call her weak and annoying, be mean to her, made her cry, made her suffer, and made her angry. And of course, you left her on a hard, cold bench that night. Sasuke, did you really expect her to run in calling your name, and hugging you and welcoming you back home, just like the old times? What made you think that she would forgive you?" **_his inner said.

"_You're right. I expected that kind of response from her. I wanted her to call out my name in happiness. I wanted her to run up and hug me like there's no end," _said Sasuke.

"_**Wow, well look what happened," **_his inner said.

Now everything clicked in Sasuke's head.

"Of course she ran out. It's because she hates me and doesn't want anything to do with me. She hates me for making her cry, making her sad, making her angry. She hates me to the ends of the earth," said Sasuke to himself.

_**"Exactly. I don't know how you're gonna solve this mess, Sasuke," **_his inner said.

"Sakura…I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything I've ever done to you," said Sasuke, putting his hands over his troubled face and just waiting for Naruto to come back.

* * *

Yay! Chapter 3 done!

Haha, well I bet a lot of you are thinking like how Sasuke's thinking; that Sakura is very mad at him and doesn't even want to see him.

But oh boy, are you guys up for the surprise!

Well I'm not gonna tell you anything! :P

Those who are curious are just gonna have to wait until Chapter 4, where the whole behind story is unleashed!

Thanks for all your reviews guys! I really appreciate it!

Continue to **Read & Review!**

Love, Cilla :)


	4. The Truth

Okay, it's finally here!

The BIG chapter that explains EVERYTHING!

Oh and I have to apologize to all of my readers out there.

This week…hasn't been that great for me, and I was busy/ lazy at times, so I didn't write this chapter.

But then I realized how many readers I would be letting down if I put this off any longer, so I have wrote it!

Yeah, so like I said, this is the chapter that reveals EVERYTHING!

Be prepared!

Oh, and I'll like to hear a lot of comments about this chapter because I put a lot of thought into this one!

So, let's get going!

**Disclaimer- blah, blah, blah, you know the stuff :)**

* * *

**Chapter 4- The Truth**

Naruto ran pass the doctors and patients in the hallways and ran out the main entrance of the hospital. He looked over at the little garden next to the hospital, and sure enough, Sakura was there, sitting on a bench and looking down at the flowers.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto said as he walked over and sat next to her.

"Naruto…you're my best friend, right?" said Sakura, still looking down at the flowers.

"Of course, Sakura-chan! No doubt about it!" said Naruto, smiling encouragingly.

"Then…can you tell me something?" said Sakura, finally lifting her head and looking at Naruto.

"Uh…sure, Sakura-chan," said Naruto, although he felt uneasy about his decision.

"Who was that man in the hospital room?" said Sakura, looking at Naruto's expression to guess at what he was thinking.

"Uh…well…he's Uchiha Sasuke, the guy who killed Orochimaru and Kabuto, remember?" said Naruto, trying to hide his panic from showing Sakura. He was actually very terrified at her question because he didn't know how to answer it.

"I know that, baka. But, I mean, if the mission was a RETRIEVAL mission, that means he was a Konoha shinobi, right?" asked Sakura.

"…Yes, he was. He left 4 years ago to gain power from Orochimaru," said Naruto, telling her a little of the truth.

"And he's close to you, right?" asked Sakura.

"Uh…"

"Naruto, don't try to hide it from me. You told me to save his life and you stayed next to him for the two days he's been unconscious," said Sakura, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Okay, okay, Sakura-chan. Sasuke…has been my first best friend for as long as I can remember," said Naruto, now trying to look at Sakura's expression. But he was surprised; Sakura's face showed frustration and sadness.

"Oh, I see," said Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, now that I answered your question, you have to answer mine," said Naruto.

"Hai. Go ahead," said Sakura, bracing herself for whatever question Naruto was gonna ask her.

"Why did you run away from Sasuke and me?" said Naruto.

"I-I don't know. You see, when Uchiha-san said my name and when I looked at his face, something struck inside my head. My head started to throb and told me to run first and get explanations later," said Sakura.

"Why?" said Naruto, so frustrated that this was actually happening.

"He seems so familiar to me, yet this is the first time I've ever seen him in person. That's why I asked you all those questions about him, because if he lived here, then I would have seen him a couple of times," said Sakura.

_"Actually you've seen him more than just a couple, Sakura-chan," _thought Naruto.

"And this is what makes me so frustrated. He seems so familiar, but I don't know him. And the worst part is, when he said my name, it seemed like he was relieved, happy to see me. Like he knew me before," said Sakura, looking down at her hands crossed in her lap, fighting the internal conflict going on in her head, trying to figure it out.

"I actually don't know if you guys know each other, Sakura-chan. But Sasuke is waiting for you to check on him right now, so why don't we go up to him right now. I know it's hard for you, but he's a patient too, and he'd rather be at my house than the hospital," said Naruto.

"_Sakura-chan, I'm sorry that I have to lie to you, but it's for the best," _thought Naruto, as he got up and helped Sakura up from the bench.

"Yeah, you're right. This is my job. I should be putting the patient before my personal emotions and feelings," said Sakura, as they walked into the hospital together to Sasuke's room.

* * *

When they got there, Sakura warily walked over to Sasuke, who still had his hands over his face. Naruto sat on a chair near the door, watching Sakura and Sasuke.

"Uchiha-san, gomen-nasai (sorry) for my little outburst before. I wasn't feeling very good," said Sakura as she activated her chakra hands to check Sasuke's health and condition.

"Sakura…why do you call me Uchiha-san?" said Sasuke, taking his hands off from his face and looking into the emerald eyes of Sakura.

"First of all, please don't call me Sakura. This is a hospital, and I would prefer if you call me Haruno-san or Dr. Haruno. Secondly, I call you Uchiha-san because you are my patient, and I am giving you that respect. There's nothing else that I would call you, Uchiha-san," said Sakura, as she looked away from Sasuke's cold, hard eyes and looked at her hands working over his body.

"Sak- I mean- Haruno-san, I-"

"I have finished checking your condition, and it seems like you're doing fine. All you have to do is go home and rest for a while to return to your normal condition. You should not train excessively at all, but I'm sure Hokage-sama told you that. I have another patient waiting for me, so I must go right now. Good bye, Uchiha-san, and see you next time Naruto," said Sakura as she hurriedly walked out of the room and closed the door.

"Sas-"

"You don't have to explain anything to me, Dobe. I understand what's going on perfectly," said Sasuke as he slowly got up from the hospital bed and took out his clothes from the closet.

"Wait, you understand everything? How?" said Naruto as Sasuke walked into the bathroom, changed and came back out to pack his things to leave.

"How could I not? It's obvious," said Sasuke as he turned his back towards Naruto and pack his things into his bag.

"Teme, are you sure we're talking about the same thing?" asked Naruto as he got up from his chair and walked over to help Sasuke.

"We're talking about Sakura, aren't we?" said Sasuke annoyingly.

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts. I know what's going on, and stop trying to hide it," said Sasuke, as he finished and put the bag over his shoulder.

"Teme, what are you talking about?!" said Naruto as he turned Sasuke around by his shoulders.

"Look, Dobe, I'm not stupid. It's obvious that Sakura absolutely loathes me and wants nothing to do with me," said Sasuke annoyingly and madly.

From frustration to understanding, Naruto started to crack up laughing like crazy. He literally fell and rolled on the floor laughing like heck.

"What's so funny, Dobe? I'm being serious," said Sasuke.

"Okay, okay, I'm done," said Naruto as he got up.

"Well, the funny part was that you jumped to conclusions way too easily. The relieving part is that Sakura-chan doesn't hate you at all. And the serious part is…" said Naruto.

"Is…" said Sasuke.

"…Is that this is something so much more serious than just loathing or hating. But I don't have time to explain that to you right now. It's almost time for my Hokage training. So I'll escort you to my house, go to Hokage training, and tell you after if you're still awake," said Naruto as he walked out of the room with Sasuke.

* * *

"I only have one room, so you can use my bed and I'll use the couch. Once the Uchiha Compound is done, you can go there," said Naruto as he opened the door to his apartment for Sasuke.

"Hn."

"There's cup ramen in the cupboard, a pot on the stove so that you can heat the water, so you can eat when you get hungry. I'll be back around 8 or 9, so go to sleep and rest," said Naruto.

"Hn."

"See ya later, Teme," said Naruto with a wave and left.

Sasuke walked into Naruto's bedroom, which was messy as crap. After a groan of annoyance, Sasuke cleaned up the room, took his belongings out from his bag, and laid down on the bed. His thoughts immediately went to Sakura.

_"So she doesn't hate me…" _thought Sasuke, even though he didn't know it, he was relieved by that fact.

_"But Dobe said that it was something serious than that. What could it be?" _thought Sasuke.

_**"Hmm...It's something serious than just hating… Maybe she hated you so much that she actually doesn't remember who you are, because she's been trying to erase you from her memories and succeeded," **_said his inner.

_"That's a retarded assumption. And why do you have to be so pessimistic?" _thought Sasuke.

_**"Because this whole thing with Sakura is horrible! You messed up from the beginning, and now you're gonna have to suffer the consequences," **_said the inner.

_"Ugh, whatever. Go back to wherever you came from," _said Sasuke as his eyelids started to droop.

Soon enough, Sasuke was sleeping.

* * *

Sasuke woke up to a door opening and closing and stood up from the bed and walked out to the living room, where Naruto was getting ramen from the cupboard and heating up water on the stove. When Naruto heard footsteps, he turned around and saw Sasuke walking towards the couch.

"Oh Teme, you're up. Do you want anything?" said Naruto.

"No," said Sasuke, indifferently, looking over at all the stuff in the living room, his eyes finally landing on one thing.

It was the picture of Team 7 when they were young; Kakashi-sensei in the back with a smile on his face and his hands on the heads of Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke was glaring at Naruto from the left, and Naruto was glaring at Sasuke from the right. Finally, his eyes landed on the person in the middle. Sakura had her hands up to her mouth and was giggling at Sasuke and Naruto.

Sasuke couldn't help but smile a tiny bit, remembering all the great adventures of Team 7 and memories that he could never forget: The three of them getting assigned onto the same team, trying to see Kakashi-sensei's maskless face, the Great Naruto Bridge adventure, the Chunnin Exams, and many more. As Sasuke started to remember the Chunnin Exams and the Curse Mark, Naruto sat in front of him in a chair, with a bowl of hot, steamy ramen.

"Okay, so you want to know the truth of Sakura-chan's behavior, right?" said Naruto, slurping up the noodles hungrily.

"Hn," said Sasuke, trying to look indifferent, although he was very interested and also, wary of the truth.

"Sasuke, you're gonna be pretty blown when you hear this, and you're not gonna like it…I think," said Naruto.

"Dobe, just tell me already," said Sasuke, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"Okay, okay, sheesh. This story starts all the way back a year ago, when we first met you at Orochimaru's hideout, 3 years after you left Konoha," said Naruto, putting his unfinished ramen down and lifting his head back up to look at Sasuke, showing all seriousness on his face.

"After you left with that snake bastard, we couldn't do anything but return home unsuccessfully. But as we were going, we encountered 4 Sound shinobis that were attacking us from the trees. Yamato-taichou, Sai, Sakura-chan, and I fought them off pretty easily, but what we didn't see was another shinobi that was hiding in the trees with his chakra masked. He jumped out from the tree, headed towards Sakura-chan, and rammed a kunai into her shoulder. Sai and I finished him off, and Sakura-chan was in a lot of pain, but she took out the kunai, healed herself, and got up saying that she was fine. But what we didn't know at that time was that she was lying to us. Few hours later, when we were close to Konoha, Sakura-chan fainted on the road, with her shoulder wound getting bigger. I immediately took her to the hospital and brought Tsunade to check her. It turned out that the kunai was poisoned. The poison was mysteriously not going through her bloodsystem, but rather to her head. Tsunade-baa-chan took out all of the poison, but she herself didn't even know what the poison would do to Sakura-chan and told me to wait until she got up," said Naruto.

"S-she was poisoned…by a Sound shinobi…but why?" whispered Sasuke, not understanding what that had to do with her current unusual behavior.

"I'm about to get there," said Naruto.

"3 days later she woke up and I casually talked to her. The weird part was…she didn't know who you were. When I mentioned your name, she was like, "Sasuke? Who's Sasuke?" I asked her a bunch of questions about you, but she didn't remember anything," said Naruto, warily looking at Sasuke's frozen face due to the newfound information.

"S-she didn't remember me? How?" whispered Sasuke.

"I then ran all the way to the Hokage Tower, brought Tsunade-baa-chan to Sakura-chan and had her checked. Tsunade-sama didn't even know what was going on. It wasn't until later when Tsunade-baa-chan returned to her office when we found out what really happened," said Naruto.

"What? What happened?" said Sasuke, now frustrated.

"When Tsunade-baa-chan returned to her office, a snake slithered from the window onto her desk. She was about to kill it when she noticed the envelope between its jaws. The snake burst into flames and disintegrated as soon as she took the envelope from its mouth. It was a letter…from Orochimaru," said Naruto.

"What?!" said Sasuke, horrified at what was going on behind his back.

"After Tsunade-baa-chan read it, she told me about it, so I know what was on it. It said that Orochimaru had sent the Sound shinobi to come after our team, and gave the leader the poisoned kunai. He was told to mainly focus on stabbing either Sakura-chan or me, since we were your old teammates," said Naruto.

"Why did Orochimaru do this?" questioned Sasuke, cursing off the snake bastard who was destroyed back at Sound.

"Orochimaru wanted one of us, preferably Sakura-chan, to forget about you entirely. And this is just what he did. In his letter, he explained that Kabuto had created a new form a poison: A Memory Erasing Poison. Whatever that person might have been thinking of right as the poison went into their body will be erased from their memories, like it was never there. Orochimaru, from the beginning, knew that Sakura-chan and I had some sort of effect on you. He knew that if one of us lost our memories of you, you would grow colder, and therefore, more thirsty for power. He basically wrote the letter to boast and tease Tsunade for being one step behind him. So when the poison entered Sakura-chan's body, she was thinking about you, since we had just encountered you. So she lost all her memories of and with you…like you were never there. Her behavior back at the hospital wasn't from hatred, it was from confusion. She doesn't know you, yet thinks you are familiar. And it frustrated her even more that you called out to her like you knew her from before," said Naruto.

Sasuke was speechless…he didn't know what to say.

He wished that sick snake bastard Orochimaru was still alive so that he could kill him with even more anger and reason. He hated him to the core. Fortunately, he was dead and would bother no one else anymore.

"So Sasuke, this is my one and only favor to you," said Naruto.

"I want you to help me bring back Sakura-chan's memories," said Naruto.

"But I thought you said they were forever erased," said Sasuke.

"That's what I thought, until today, when she told me that you seemed _familiar _rather than not knowing who you were at all," said Naruto, determined.

"So I want you to help me. Help Sakura-chan," said Naruto.

Sasuke suddenly felt cold with a new understanding, "Why? She doesn't need me back in her life. I'll make it just that much more miserable. She's fine, even better, without me interrupting her life."

"…What the heck are you saying, Teme?! Do you really not know Sakura-chan that much to say that?!" yelled Naruto angrily.

"All I've ever done for her was making her sad and cry. She doesn't need me back," said Sasuke, suddenly getting up from the couch.

"How stupid can you get?! Do you really think Sakura-chan wouldn't want you back in her life like that? Sure, you gave her a lot of sadness and tears, but that doesn't mean you gave her happiness and smiles too!" yelled Naruto, now completely furious at Sasuke's blindness.

"Hn, whatever. I'm going to sleep," said Sasuke, as he walked into the room.

"Fine! Frickin stupid Teme!" said Naruto as he finished his ramen and tried to go to sleep.

Sasuke, on the otherhand, couldn't sleep at all.

_"Sakura doesn't need me back in her life. I made her cry, made her sad, and made her frustrated. I deserve this. It's my fault again that a hindrance has been laid down upon Sakura. She doesn't deserve any of this. I deserve it all. So she's better off without knowing me," _thought Sasuke.

_**"Hmm…but are you sure? If you had lost your memories of Sakura, wouldn't you want them all back too?" **_said Sasuke's inner.

_"That's different. Sakura has always been my refuge, my safe place. All I've ever was for her was hell and misery," _thought Sasuke.

_**"But that's what you think. You're not Sakura. You don't know if that's how she thought about you," **_said the inner.

_"Hn, whatever. You're just like Dobe," _thought Sasuke as he fell asleep from a tiring day.

* * *

Whooo!! :)

Now please tell me that wasn't exciting!

This is something totally unexpected, right? :)

I hope you guys enjoyed, and remember to review!

Thanks a bunch!

Love, Cilla :)


	5. Decision and Nightmare

Hello Guys!!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was away for a long time and busy with some stuff.

But I'm back!

I hope you guys continue to support this story!

Now, let's get started!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. If I did, there would be no such thing as a "Karin." XD**

* * *

**Chapter 5- Decision and Nightmare**

Sasuke woke up the next day to a bright and sunny morning.

_"It's perfect weather to spend the day training," _thought Sasuke as he got up from Naruto's bed, washed up, got dressed, and left the room.

When he stepped into the living room, he could see Naruto putting on his orange and black jacket, getting ready to leave. When Naruto turned, he saw Sasuke standing there, dressed up with his gear.

"Sasuke-teme, are you going training? But Tsunade-baa-chan and Sakura-chan said-"

"I know what they said. But I'm not gonna let myself lose all of my training for a month. I need to stay fit if I'm going to get any better," said Sasuke, walking to the door.

"Fine, then. I knew you would say that. I'll go train with you," said Naruto, walking out the door after Sasuke.

They reached the Team 7 training grounds and got their gear ready to train. Sasuke pulled out his katana, while Naruto took out a kunai. As they were training on nearby targets, Naruto began talking.

"Sasuke-teme…are you really not gonna help me bring back Sakura-chan's memories?" asked Naruto.

"There's no need for her to remember me. I'm nothing to her," said Sasuke, indifferently.

Naruto then stepped right in front of Sasuke, suddenly very angry at him.

"Teme, how stupid can you be? Did that snake bastard take a part of your brain too? How could you possibly think that you meant nothing to Sakura-chan? You were everything to her, and you know that," said Naruto.

"Sure, I was then. But she doesn't need me now. I didn't do anything for her. I didn't make her happy like you did," said Sasuke.

"Look, teme, we went over this last night. Sure you didn't make her laugh and happy on the outside, but on the inside, I know you made her very happy. She used to tell me, long after you had left and when we used to train together, that she never regretted spending time with you. The only thing that she regretted was not being strong enough to bring you back that night, but she said that's why she was training so hard to be stronger…strong enough to bring you back. She adored all the memories she'd shared with you, and really hoped that her intense training with the Hokage would be enough to bring you back," said Naruto.

_"Really? Did Sakura really enjoy my presence? Was she really happy with me on the inside? Did she really do all that training for me?" _thought Sasuke.

"Liar. I don't mean anything to her, and she doesn't mean anything to me, except as a teammate," said Sasuke, trying to pass by Naruto and resume training.

Naruto stepped in front of him again, "No, you're the liar! I can see it in you, Sasuke. You care for her not only as a teammate, but as a friend. Or even more than a friend. If you had lost your memories of Sakura-chan, you would want to remember her, don't you? It's the same frickin thing!" yelled Naruto.

_"Is it? Is it the same thing? It's true that if I lose memories of Sakura, I would want to remember Sakura again, but would she want to remember me again too?" _thought Sasuke.

"Shut up, dobe. I don't wanna hear a thing about Sakura. Just continue training," said Sasuke as he walked away from Naruto.

Naruto, being frustrated, ran towards Sasuke and charged at him with his kunai. Sasuke then quickly dodged and counter attacked with his katana. Soon enough, their little argument turned into a full-fledged battle.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Sakura stretched her arms and legs as she walked out the main doors of the Konoha Hospital. She had been working since 6 in the morning, and now was the only break that she would get in a long time: Lunch. She was a little troubled by the fact that her co-workers and patients were saying that she seemed different today, although nothing had changed. She was thinking about what could have made her seem different today, and her thoughts immediately went to her patient from yesterday: Uchiha Sasuke.

_"Maybe it's because I'm so confused about this guy. He seems so familiar, but yesterday was the first time that I've seen him in my life, other than the S-Ranked Criminal files,"_ thought Sakura.

As she was thinking about how to be able to solve this mystery about this guy, her stomach growled at her. Then, a great idea formed in her head.

_"Oh! I just remembered that today is Ino's day off from working at the flower shop, and Tenten and Hinata came back from a mission just yesterday! Maybe if I invite them to lunch, I'll be able to ask them about this Uchiha Sasuke!" _thought Sakura as she ran into the heart of the village to find her three best friends.

* * *

"Ugh…"

Both Sasuke and Naruto collapsed under a cherry blossom tree after their long hour of intense fighting.

"That's what you get for being so ignorant," said Naruto.

"Hn. I wasn't being ignorant," said Sasuke.

"Teme! You are- actually, nevermind. I'm too exhausted to argue with you again," said Naruto.

"Hn," said Sasuke, agreeing with him.

"Teme, I understand where you're coming from about Sakura-chan. But look at things in her perspective too," said Naruto.

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, so you know how you've been telling me that she looks fine and happy without remembering you?" said Naruto.

"Hn."

"I wasn't gonna tell you this until it was necessary, but I'm guessing that it's already at that level," said Naruto.

"What the heck are you talking about, dobe?" said Sasuke, confused.

"Listen to me. Although Sakura-chan seems very happy and joyful right now, she really isn't. She made me promise to not tell anyone about this, but this is one promise that I must break," said Naruto, sitting up.

"…" Sasuke also sat up, listening to yet another one of these "important-facts-about-Sakura."

Naruto sighed and began, "Months before, we were training in these very grounds when she stopped and told me that she wanted to speak to me about something. I asked her what was up and suddenly she started crying uncontrollably. She was telling me how even though her life was perfect and everything was okay, she felt empty on the inside…like something was missing. I of course knew what she was missing, but I couldn't just tell her straight out. She said that she began to feel this for a while, but she couldn't tell anyone, because no one would understand. But she said that she trusted me with her emotions and told me about it. She didn't know what was missing, although she tried her hardest to remember. All that I could say to her was to wait, and maybe her heart will be filled again…that maybe that something or _someone _will return…" said Naruto, closing his eyes at the sudden sorrow he felt for Sakura.

"But she doesn't seem that way on the outside…" stated Sasuke, although on the inside, he was in shock and anger at himself.

"Didn't I tell you that Sakura-chan has gotten very well at hiding her emotions? Her training has really paid off. Whenever she looks happy with her patients, co-workers, and friends, only I can see the strain and strength that it's taking her to put that smile on her face," said Naruto.

Sasuke groaned in hopelessness, "No!"

"Huh? What's wrong, teme?" asked Naruto, now facing Sasuke.

"Fine! I will help Sakura! I will! It's too painful to be hearing about Sakura suffering like this!" yelled Sasuke as he abruptly stood up.

"Teme? Really? Are you sure?" said Naruto as he bounced up from his spot in happiness.

Sasuke then gained back his composure and coldness, "Dobe, I give up. I always thought…"

"Thought what?" asked Naruto.

"…I always thought that by having her remember me, I would hurt her more…like I did 4 years ago. But instead, by keeping her memories as a secret, it's hurting her even more. I want to help her, dobe," said Sasuke, closing his eyes and facing towards the dusty ground.

"Teme! Oh Arigatou (thank you)! Sakura-chan, don't worry about anything! We'll get your memories back!" yelled Naruto as they went back home, Sasuke walking slowly, still looking at the ground, while Naruto was bouncing happily next to him.

_"Sakura…I hope I'm making the right choice…" _thought Sasuke.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Sakura was at Ichiraku's, waiting for all of her girlfriends. Thankfully, she was able to get in touch with Ino, Tenten, and Hinata and they were able to come to lunch. Although Sakura wanted to ask them about Uchiha Sasuke, she pushed that to the back of her mind for the moment. She wanted to know how things were going for them, for she hadn't talked with them for ages, since all of them were busy with their own businesses. And lastly, she wanted to gossip. She wanted to know how the girls were with their boyfriends too! Right then, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata walked into Ichiraku's and sat on the stools.

"Ino-pig! Tenten! Hinata!" squealed Sakura as she hugged each of them.

"Hey Forehead! Long time no see!" said Ino.

"What's up, Sakura?" said Tenten.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" said Hinata.

The girls settled down and ordered their ramen: Sakura ordered a meat ramen, Ino a seafood ramen, Tenten a vegetable ramen, and Hinata a miso ramen. When their food finally came, they began to eat and talk.

"So, how are you guys?" asked Sakura, while slurping on a noodle.

"Ugh, the flower shop is getting so troublesome. It's so boring just tending to flowers everyday. I'd rather go on missions," said Ino.

"Haha, I can see that Shikamaru is being an influence to you," said Sakura, laughing.

Ino blushed, while telling Sakura to shut up.

"Well Hinata and I just came back from a mission. It was supposedly a really hard mission, but I thought it was easy," said Tenten.

"Tenten, of course you thought it was easy. Neji-kun ordered the mission leader to not give any of the dangerous tasks to you," said Hinata as Tenten blushed and Sakura and Ino tried to muffle their laughter.

"Well if Neji could do that, then why didn't your precious Naruto-kun?" said Tenten.

"Because he was too busy giving Hinata goodbye kisses all over her face," said Ino as Hinata blushed furiously and dangerously red.

"And how about you, Sakura? How are things at the hospital?" asked Tenten.

"It's been going great. My patients are all kind and decent, except for the group of ninjas today from the Sand Village," said Sakura as she scowled into the ramen bowl.

"What happened?" asked Hinata.

"In the morning, a bunch of male shinobis came to the hospital from the Sand Village. They had a mission nearby and were pretty beaten up, so they decided to come here. It was all okay until I went into their room, when suddenly one of them locked the door behind me. They were circling themselves around me, 5 to 1, trying to seduce me," said Sakura, indifferently.

"What?! Why does all guys have raging hormones?!" said Tenten.

"So…that's counting Neji right?" asked Ino, giving Tenten an evil grin.

Tenten blushed, "He's an exception. My Neji is way more mature than those weirdos."

"Haha okay. But anyways, so what happened after?" asked Hinata.

"Haha what do you think happened? I beat the crap out of them, healed the major injuries, warned them not to mess with me the next time, and called a _male _doctor to treat them. Next time I meet Gaara, I'm asking him what the heck they're teaching their ninjas at their academies," said Sakura.

Ino, Tenten, and Hinata burst into laughter at the story, and Sakura couldn't help but to join in.

"Sakura, I don't understand why you don't have a boyfriend yet. You're the #1 on the Konoha guys' hottest girls list, yet you decline whenever a guy asks you out. I would just take the chance when you have it," said Ino.

"I don't know why, Ino. I guess because all the guys just look at me from what's there on the outside, rather than what's on the inside. They don't know me for who I am. I feel as though I'm waiting for the one right guy to come so that I can pour out my all to him," said Sakura.

_"That one right guy that Sakura's waiting for is Uchiha Sasuke, yet she doesn't know it," _thought Ino, Tenten, and Hinata in unison.

"Speaking of guy and the hospital, I wanted to ask you guys a question," said Sakura.

"Shoot," said Ino.

"What's up?" said Tenten.

"Yes?" said Hinata.

"What do you guys know about…Uchiha Sasuke?" said Sakura, warily looking over at her girlfriends.

She didn't miss out all three girls freezing at the sound of his name.

"What about him?" asked Ino.

"Well, he's back in the village, and I treated him when he came back," said Sakura.

She didn't miss the girls freezing once again.

"Oh…so he's back…" said Tenten.

"D-Does Naruto-kun know of this?" asked Hinata.

"Of course he does. He's one of the people who brought him back. And so did Shikamaru and Neji," said Sakura.

"Oh…" said all three girls as they looked down into their bowls.

"Okay girls, spill it. What are you guys hiding from me?" asked Sakura, now staring right at them.

"What do you mean? We're not hiding anything," said Ino.

"Yeah right. There's something you know that I don't know. Who is Uchiha Sasuke?" said Sakura.

In truth, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata wanted to tell Sakura everything desperately, but they knew that that wouldn't help Sakura at all. They knew that she would have to find out everything on her own. They were saddened by the fact that Sakura lost her memories of the one person that she gave her heart to, and that they had to lie to their best friend.

"He was a shinobi from our village. He was called the prodigy because he was the strongest out of all of us when we were young. But 4 years ago, when he left seeking power, he destroyed the heart of…Naruto-kun and the village, his best friend and home," said Hinata, telling Sakura only a little bit of the truth.

"…Do I…know him?" asked Sakura quietly.

Ino flinched, but said nonetheless, "I'm not sure, Sakura. He used to go to the academy with us, but I'm not sure if you guys really talked or knew each other…"

"Oh…" said Sakura.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" asked Tenten.

"Oh I don't know. It's just that…when I first saw him, he looked so familiar to me. But that's not the part that bothers me, since I could have seen him when we were younger," said Sakura.

"Then what bothers you?" asked Hinata.

"When I walked into his room, he was awake and talking with Naruto. But when he saw me, his eyes showed shock and then relief to see me, like he wanted to see me for a while. And then he called my name, like he knew me from before," said Sakura, closing her eyes and thinking of what happened just yesterday.

"Then what did you do?" asked Ino.

"I just did what my brain told me to do, which was run first and ask later," said Sakura.

"I see…" said Tenten.

"I just don't get it. I don't know him personally, yet it feels like I did. Are you sure I didn't know him when we were younger?" asked Sakura, looking up at her friends.

"I-I don't think so, Sakura-chan. Sasuke-san's a pretty cold guy. Not a lot of people ever got close to him, except for Naruto-kun," said Hinata.

"I see. I guess I'll never understand," said Sakura, hopelessly.

Ino suddenly brightened up, "Maybe you should talk to him! He may have been thinking you're one hot chick when he saw you at the hospital and called your name all familiar-like on purpose!"

"Ino!" said both Tenten and Hinata.

"Okay, maybe not that last part. But it wouldn't hurt to at least strike a conversation with him. I mean, you were his doctor. That gives you some authority to be talking to him," said Ino.

"Hmm…maybe. I'll try, I guess," said Sakura.

"Yeah, go try to talk to him. Oh my- look at the time! I'm late for my date with Shika-kun! I'll see you later Sakura! And good luck!" said Ino as she dashed away from the ramen stand.

"Yeah, I need to be going too. I promised Neji I'll train with him today. I'll talk to you later Sakura!" said Tenten as she left.

"I forgot about the clan meeting I'm having with my father today. I'll see you later, Sakura-chan," said Hinata.

"Okay then. Bye, Hinata!" said Sakura cheerfully.

Hinata suddenly stopped and turned around, "Sakura-chan, no matter what, Ino, Tenten, and I are here for you. I hope you can clear your mystery with Sasuke-san."

"Thanks Hinata," said Sakura as she watched Hinata disappear into the crowds.

After paying for everyone's meals, Sakura also left Ichiraku's and started heading towards the hospital. She was too busy thinking about Uchiha Sasuke that she didn't see someone in front of her and bumped into them with her head.

"Ooof! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" said Sakura as she looked up to see the person she bumped into.

"Sheesh, watch where you're going! How stupid can you be to bump into someone right in the middle of the street?" said the man. He was big, not muscular big, but big as in obese big.

"Sir, I'm sorry about bumping into you, but you have no right to be calling me stupid!" yelled back Sakura. By now, a crowd was forming around them. Some of them were pointing to Sakura and then the man saying that he shouldn't be messing around with Sakura and stuff.

"What?! Why you little-" said the man as he raised his hand to strike Sakura on the cheek.

Sakura was getting ready to counterattack when someone whizzed right in front of her.

"A full-grown man should know not to hurt a lady," said a cool, serious voice.

Sakura looked closely at the figure in front of her and realized who it was: Uchiha Sasuke.

"Ha! The little girl has a boyfriend! Well, pretty boy, let's see what you got!" said the big man.

Sasuke turned on his Sharingan, "You sure? I wouldn't be messing with me if I were you."

The big man's eyes widened in shock, "Y-You're an Uchiha? Nevermind, I'm not messing with an Uchiha," said the man as he hurriedly ran away from Sasuke.

Sasuke turned off his Sharingan and turned around. Sakura was just looking up at him in shock.

"You know, you can start by saying thanks," said Sasuke.

"I didn't need your help," said Sakura bitingly, as she looked down from his eyes. His little act right there made her more confused than ever.

"But I helped you anyway," said Sasuke, feeling down because of Sakura's attitude towards him.

"Okay fine. Thanks for your help," said Sakura as she walked around him, not looking at his eyes at all.

"Saku- I mean- Haruno-san," called Sasuke.

"Yes?" said Sakura as she sighed in defeat and turned around to look at her "savior".

Sasuke just stared into her eyes, looking as if he was trying to find something in them. Right when Sakura was gonna ask him why he called her, he turned around.

"Nevermind. I'll see you around," said Sasuke as he walked away.

Sakura just stood there in shock.

_"What is going on?! Why did he save me? Why did he call my name? Why did he just stare at me and leave? I'm so confused!" _screamed Sakura inside her head as she started running to the hospital.

* * *

**At Night…**

Naruto was laying down on the couch, happily thinking about the past day. He trained with Sasuke, got Sasuke to agree to help Sakura-chan, saw Hinata-chan for a while after he cleaned up from training. What he didn't understand was what happened to Sasuke after training.

**Flashback**

"Hey Sasuke-teme! What should we eat for dinner? Should we go to Ichiraku's?" said Naruto, happily walking next to his best friend in the heart of the village.

"We're not eating ramen again for-" said Sasuke when he suddenly stopped and looked somewhere else.

"Teme? What's up?" said Naruto, looking at Sasuke.

"Dobe, go home first. I'll be right there," said Sasuke as he disappeared into the crowd.

**End Flashback**

"I just don't get where he ran off to. Then he came back home looking down and didn't want to tell me anything," said Naruto to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

"AHHHHH!"

Naruto was abruptly woken up from his sleep. Where did that scream come from? Then it suddenly hit him: Sasuke.

Naruto swiftly ran towards Sasuke's room and slammed open the door. What was in front of him put him in shock.

Sasuke was wriggling in bed with his eyes shut tight. His face was contorted in pain and his blood veins were popping out from his arms as he put pressure into them. Naruto ran to the bed, grabbed Sasuke's shoulders, and shook him to no end.

"Teme! What's going on? What's happening? Teme! Wake up!" yelled Naruto.

But Sasuke didn't wake up from his nightmare and continued to twist and turn in pain.

"OROCHIMARU YOU VILE SNAKE!" yelled Sasuke in his sleep.

"TEME!"

"OROCHIMARU! HOW DARE YOU HURT-"

"TEME! WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!" yelled Naruto.

Suddenly, Sasuke stopped screaming and fell limp back onto the bed. He fell back asleep.

"Teme…what's going on? How bad could the nightmare have been to do this to you?" said Naruto as he saw the wound in Sasuke's stomach open up again, bleeding.

"S-Sa-"

"Teme?"

"S-Sa-Sakura…" whispered Sasuke in his sleep as a lone tear slipped from one of his closed eyes.

"Teme…I knew you cared for her…" whispered Naruto as he picked Sasuke up from his bed and teleported him outside the house, where he locked up and ran to the hospital to get Sasuke treated.

* * *

**At the Hospital…**

"So, Tsunade-baa-chan, how is Sasuke-teme?" asked Naruto wearily next to Tsunade, who was fixing Sasuke's bandages after she healed his stomach.

"He's fine now. But you should have stopped him from training so excessively!" yelled Tsunade as she and Naruto walked out of Sasuke's room.

"Sasuke-teme's not someone that can be easily convinced. I knew he was gonna try to train anyway…and we got into a pretty bad fight," said Naruto.

"A fight?!" said Tsunade.

"Hai…it was about Sakura-chan," said Naruto.

"So? What happened?" asked Tsunade.

"Well, in the end, Sasuke agreed to help me bring back Sakura-chan's memories. But Tsunade-baa-chan, I gotta talk to you about something," said Naruto.

"What is it?"

"Well…Sasuke-teme's wound opened up again not because of the fight, but because of his nightmare," said Naruto.

"Nightmare?" asked Tsunade.

"Hai. He had a bad nightmare, and he kept thrashing in bed, which opened the wound. From what he was screaming out, he was dreaming about Orochimaru and Sakura-chan," said Naruto.

"Hmm…" said Tsunade, deep in thought.

"As you know, I have to go on a mission in a few days. I can't take care of teme then. I would have Kakashi-sensei take care of him, but he's going on the mission too. And if Sasuke-teme keeps having these nightmares, he needs someone to be there for him," said Naruto, sad to see his best friend in suffering.

"HAHAHA!" laughed Tsunade uncontrollably.

"Tsunade-baa-chan? Why are you laughing?" questioned Naruto, looking up at the Hokage as if she grew another head.

"Naruto, you baka! Don't you see? This is what we've been waiting for!" said Tsunade.

"What? I don't get it," said Naruto.

"Ugh, these are the times when I wish you were a little bit smarter," said Tsunade, returning back to her calm façade.

"Naruto, how long did I assign you to this mission?" asked Tsunade.

"Around 2 weeks, but it might take longer depending on the situation," said Naruto, still confused at where this was going.

"Perfect," said Tsunade.

"Naruto, while you are gone for approximately 2 weeks, Haruno Sakura will be taking care of Uchiha Sasuke. She will be visiting him almost everyday, depending on her schedule. If he gets hurt, she'll be there to heal him, and he wouldn't have to come back to the hospital," said Tsunade with a big smirk on her face.

"Tsunade-baa-chan! That's a great idea!" said Naruto, now smiling his goofy grin.

"Yes I know. They'll get closer, and Sakura will somehow have her memories return," said Tsunade.

"Yes! This is perfect!" said Naruto.

"Naruto, I will assign this _mission_ to Sakura as soon as she reports to the hospital in the morning. For now, you can take Sasuke home," said Tsunade as she walked away.

"Hai! Arigatou Tsunade-baa-chan!" yelled Naruto.

_"This is perfect! It's definitely gonna work!" _thought Naruto as he walked back into Sasuke's room to take him home.

* * *

Oh man!

Here we go!

It's gonna start getting a little more interesting from here on out!

But I must tell you that I can't promise you guys that I'll be updating frequently.

School has already started, and it's gonna get pretty busy for me.

Hopefully I'll be able to update soon enough so I don't lose any of my precious supporters! :)

But yeah, thanks for everything!

Love, Cilla :)


	6. Getting Rid of the Formalities

Yes! Finally!

I am able to write the next chapter of "Hidden Love"!

Ugh, school's really taking my times these days…it's so crazy!

But yeah, I hope all of you are doing well in school and getting along with your teachers and such =)

Anyway, let's get started!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form.**

* * *

**Chapter 6-Getting Rid of the Formalities**

Sakura was working early in the morning at the hospital, like always, when a ninja came to give her a message that the Hokage wanted to see her urgently. So now, she was on her way to the Hokage Tower to meet with her sensei.

_"I wonder what she needs me for?" _thought Sakura as she climbed up the stairs and opened the door to the Hokage Office.

When she went in, Tsunade looked up wearily from the stacks of paperwork on her desk and suddenly look at Sakura with eagerness and excitement.

"Shishou, I heard that you needed to see me?" said Sakura.

"Hai. I have an important mission for you, Sakura," said Tsunade, folding her hands underneath her chin, meaning to look serious. But of course, Sakura didn't understand the enjoyment in Tsunade's eyes.

"What is it Tsunade-sama?" asked Sakura.

"Well, Sakura, I know you're not gonna be really happy with this mission, but…"

"But…?" said Sakura, now wary at where this was going.

"Your mission is to look after Uchiha Sasuke for around 2 weeks while Naruto is gone on a mission with Kakashi," said Tsunade, eager to see Sakura's reaction.

Sakura opened her mouth wide in shock, "WHAT?! I have to do what?!"

"Don't worry about him running away or doing something suspicious. We have ninjas stationed all around the village to watch for any suspicious activities, especially by Uchiha Sasuke. Now this is where you come in. He's not listening to my commands to stop any aggressive training for his health. Naruto brought him in just yesterday to treat some wounds. You are going to check on the Uchiha regularly everyday to make sure he's not killing himself with his definition of "training". Because of your hospital shifts, you're probably gonna have to check him at night," said Tsunade.

"But why me? Why can't anyone else do it? There are a lot of experienced medic-nins in this village!" said Sakura, desperate to find any way out of this.

"Naruto specifically wanted you to do it. He felt that since you were Sasuke's doctor, you'll know his conditions better than anyone else. He also told me that he couldn't trust anyone better to take this job than you, Sakura," said Tsunade.

"When did you ever listen to what Naruto said?" said Sakura bitterly, finding no way out of this.

"That doesn't matter. I think you're up to the job. So Sakura, I _command _you to take this mission," said Tsunade, annoyed at Sakura's protests.

"…Hai, Tsunade-sama," said Sakura, looking down at the floor in despair.

Suddenly Tsunade's motherly side kicked in, "Sakura, why are you so desperate to get out of this? Is it because of the Uchiha?"

"…Hai…" said Sakura, sighing.

"What about him?" asked Tsunade.

"I don't know. Whenever I see him, he looks so familiar to me, yet I have never seen him before. Because of that, just being near him makes my mind twirl with no end. And he acts like we've known each other in the past. It's mind-boggling," said Sakura.

"…Well, I don't know what might be the cause, but Sakura, maybe you'll be able to get close to him through this mission and be able to ease your mind," said Tsunade, finally understanding Sakura's point.

"Yeah, hopefully," said Sakura, returning back to her regular self.

"Oh, and Naruto wanted me to give you this," said Tsunade as she handed Sakura a piece of paper with an address on it.

"He wanted you to come to that address at noon," said Tsunade as she dismissed Sakura back to her hospital duties.

As Sakura walked back to the hospital, she couldn't help but think back to Tsunade giving her the mission and replaying it over and over in her head. Then suddenly, her thoughts switched to yesterday's events: Sakura bumping into the large man, Sasuke stepping in front of her to protect her, and the look that Sasuke gave her before he departed.

"Ugh, I don't understand! But maybe Tsunade is right. Maybe this mission will help me," said Sakura.

* * *

**Later that day at Noon…**

"Dobe, where are you taking me? And why are all my stuff gone?" said Sasuke with his hands in his pockets, glaring at Naruto, who was smiling brightly to no end.

"You'll find out soon, teme," said Naruto as he bounced around in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke was too irritated to realize that they were on their way out of the bustling areas of the city and into the cool, suburban area, where all the distinguished clans had their estates. When he finally realized where they were going, Naruto stopped in front of him.

"Teme, you're gonna be sooo happy when you see this!" said Naruto as he moved to Sasuke's side and let Sasuke look at whatever he was hiding.

And Sasuke could only open his mouth in awe. In front of him was his beloved home, the Uchiha Compound, looking fresh and clean as it was many years ago.

"D-Dobe? Did you do this?" said Sasuke, looking in awe at his best friend smiling at him.

"Nope," said Naruto, still smiling.

"Then who?"

"Sakura-chan," said Naruto, enjoying the surprise on Sasuke's face when he heard Sakura's name.

"Don't worry, teme. I'll explain," said Naruto.

"You see, a few months back before Sakura-chan and I met you at Orochimaru's hideout a year ago, she had a great idea that she shared with me. She felt that you would return back home one day and decided to fix up the Uchiha Compound. She gained enough money from her missions and hospital duties, and began the renovations of the compound. All the rookie 9 and I, of course, helped her with the renovations, and so did a lot of other ninjas. But 5 months later, the compound was almost done, when Sakura-chan and I received the mission to retrieve you from Orochimaru's hideout. You couldn't imagine the joy in Sakura-chan when she could finally show you her "welcome home" present. But after that mission, since Sakura-chan didn't remember anything, she couldn't finish the renovations. And since I was too busy taking care of Sakura-chan, I couldn't finish the renovations either, until recently, after you came back. So you shouldn't thank me, it's all Sakura-chan," said Naruto, seeing the quick tenderness in Sasuke's eyes at the mention of Sakura.

"I-I see…" said Sasuke, thinking about Sakura when she was younger, and how she always wanted to help him in every way.

"Oh, and your belongings are all in the house. I had them moved there while you were sleeping," said Naruto, smiling at his best friend.

"Dobe…thanks," said Sasuke, looking at his friend with a ghost of a smile on his face.

They opened the gates and walked through the courtyard and up the steps into the mansion. Sasuke stared in awe at how perfect everything was in place, exactly like it was many years ago when the Uchiha clan lived here. Sasuke and Naruto took Sasuke's belongings and took it up to the master bedroom, where Sasuke's parents used to sleep. While on their way down, Sasuke heard footsteps outside in the courtyard and looked outside.

_"Holy crap! Is that Sakura? What is she doing here?" _thought Sasuke as Naruto and he walked out to the courtyard to greet Sakura.

"Hi Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto.

"Hey Naruto," said Sakura, smiling.

She turned to Sasuke, "Good afternoon, Uchiha-san."

"Hn."

"Sakura-chan, isn't Sasuke's house amazing?"

"Yeah, it is," said Sakura as she looked around and met eyes with Sasuke, and then turned back to Naruto.

"So why did you tell me to come here?" asked Sakura.

"Well, Sasuke's moving back to his old house, so I thought you should know the way to the place, since you're coming here everyday," said Naruto, like nothing was wrong.

But oh, there was something wrong.

"What?! Dobe, what are you talking about?!" yelled Sasuke.

"Uh…oops…We'll be right back Sakura-chan!" said Naruto as he dragged Sasuke back into the house.

"Umm…okay…" said Sakura, realizing that Sasuke had no idea and smiled at Naruto's stupidity. She then went back to admiring Sasuke's house and thinking about the mission while Naruto slammed the door shut.

Sasuke turned around to face Naruto, "Dobe, what are you talking about? Sakura? Coming here everyday? Why?"

"Teme, just give me a chance to talk," said Naruto, sheepishly, not really wanting a purple bruise on his eye.

"…Go ahead."

"Okay. Well you know how I told you that I'll be going on a mission with Kakashi-sensei in a few days, right?"

"Hn."

"Yeah…and you know how you hate hospitals, right?"

Sasuke was getting both confused and irritated, "Dobe, what does that have to do with anything?!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh. Well since I'm gonna be on a mission for around 2 weeks, there's really no one to look after you, especially with you nearly killing yourself with training and those mysterious nightmares. And as for the nightmare, I have no idea what was going on or if it's gonna happen again. So, instead of you going to the hospital you hate with a passion, I'm bringing the hospital to you…everyday. The best treatment you'll ever get from the best medic-nin of Konoha. I personally asked Tsunade-baa-chan to assign Sakura-chan on this medic-nin duty," said Naruto, still scared of Sasuke giving him a black eye.

But instead, Sasuke didn't move. He didn't do anything. He just stood there looking at Naruto.

"Uh…Teme? You okay?" asked Naruto, afraid that his best friend went into shock.

"Dobe…what have you DONE?!" yelled Sasuke, almost loud enough for Sakura to hear, but thankfully, Sakura was engrossed in her own thoughts.

"W-What do you mean? This is a perfect opportunity for you to bring back our Sakura-chan! You can get to know Sakura-chan and bring back her memories! Oh cmon, Teme. You can do this!" said Naruto.

Sasuke suddenly quieted down and regained composure, "I can't do this, Dobe. Bringing back Sakura's memories are difficult enough--now I have to see her everyday and see that I'm just being a burden to her. I'll try to find another way; Sakura doesn't have to watch over me."

Naruto suddenly turned serious, "Teme, why are you backing down? I've never seen you like this. Why are you so nervous to be around her? You've been near her for years as teammates. And why do you think you're being a burden to her? Sure, she has to take time to visit you everyday and check up on you, but she doesn't know how much it's gonna help her."

"…Naruto, how do you know that she doesn't like the life she has right now? Without remembering me? She seems happier. All I've done was bring the doom and gloom in her life," said Sasuke, telling the truth to his worries.

"Ugh! How many times do I have to tell you?! She NEEDS you, Sasuke! She needs YOU in her life! I know how you feel about her, Sasuke. I know how much it's hurting you that she doesn't remember you. I KNOW," said Naruto.

"What?"

"I know you have feelings for her. I don't know if you're in love with her, or when you started to like her, but I know you really care for her. I can see it in your eyes when you look at her," said Naruto, suddenly looking out the window to see Sakura just standing there, looking at the door that the boys went through 5 minutes ago.

"……How do you know that this is gonna work? Her coming over to check on me everyday?" asked Sasuke, changing the subject quickly and now giving into the whole "Sakura-coming-over" thing.

"Well, being the Sakura-chan we know, she's probably gonna try to talk and get to know you more. But Teme, you just can't sit there every time she comes. You're gonna have to try too. I don't care what you do, just try to talk to her more and get close to her. I know you can do this, Teme. That's why I arranged this," said Naruto.

Sasuke sighed, "Hn, fine. And remember, I'm not doing this to help you, Dobe. This is all to bring Sakura's memories back," said Sasuke as he opened up the door and walked towards Sakura.

"I know, Teme. I know," said Naruto following Sasuke to Sakura, fighting back a smile at the fact that Sasuke didn't deny that he had feelings for Sakura.

"What took you so long?" Sakura asked Naruto when he finally caught up to Sasuke.

"Haha, I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I forgot to tell teme about you taking care of him," said Naruto sheepishly.

"I see," Sakura turned to Sasuke, "I know this is something abrupt, Uchiha-san, but I'll probably be visiting you at night after my hospital shifts. It's hard for me to give you check-ups during the afternoons because of all the patients, so I'll try to come as fast as I can every evening. I hope we can get along well," said Sakura, finally forcing a small tint of a smile on her face as she looked up into the face of the mysterious man.

"I also hope we can get along well, since you are gonna be taking care of me. But I must also add something onto the abruptness," said Sasuke, simply.

Naruto looked over at Sasuke and gave him a warning glance, which Sasuke ignored and continued to look at Sakura's puzzled face.

"Yes?" asked Sakura.

"Starting from now, we're gonna get rid of the formalities," said Sasuke, simply, once again.

"What?" asked Sakura, taken aback.

"Sakura, we're not seeing each other at the hospital. This is outside of your job. From now on, I'll be calling you Sakura, and you can just call me Sasuke, none of that 'Uchiha-san' crap," said Sasuke, secretly enjoying the shock apparent of Sakura's face.

"I-I can't do that. You're my patient-"

"Yes, I'm your patient. But no one's gonna reprimand you for not calling me Uchiha-san," said Sasuke.

"Okay…S-S-Sasuke," said Sakura, not understanding the butterflies fluttering away in her stomach.

"Hn," said Sasuke, turning around and walking back into the house, enjoying the moment.

Sakura could only stare in shock at Sasuke's retrieving form.

Before entering the door, however, Sasuke turned his head slightly just so that Sakura could see his face, "I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura," and he stepped into the house and closed the door.

Naruto looked at Sakura and smiled sheepishly at her, who wanted some explanations from him.

"Naruto, I don't understand why you put me up for the job," said Sakura, wearily.

"Didn't Tsunade-baa-chan tell you? Since you're one of the greatest-"

"I heard all of that, but what's the true reason?" asked Sakura impatiently.

Naruto sighed, "All the other reasons are true too, but I also want you and Sasuke to be closer. You guys are my two best friends in the whole entire world, and I want you guys to be friends too."

_"I'm forever lying to Sakura-chan, aren't I?" _thought Naruto in his head.

Sakura softened at Naruto's proclamation, "Naruto, for you, I'll take care of Uchi- I mean –Sasuke while you're gone. Don't worry about anything at all. So when are you leaving for the mission?"

Naruto was back to his cheerful self due to Sakura's positive attitude, "I'll be hopefully leaving by tomorrow afternoon, if Kakashi-sensei comes on time, which is NEVER," he said as Sakura laughed.

"Okay then. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," said Sakura, ready to leave and go back to the hospital.

"Yeah I'll see you tomorrow. Oh and Sakura-chan?"

"Hai?"

"Ah, nevermind. I'll talk to you tomorrow," said Naruto, smiling.

"Okay then, see ya," said Sakura as she teleported her way out.

Naruto watched her leave and then walked back to Sasuke's house where he would have to talk to Sasuke about how to act when Sakura checked on him.

"_Yes," he thought, "everything is gonna work out."_


	7. One Step Closer and Realization

Ugh, 1st marking period is almost over, and school is…school. XP

I hope all of you guys aren't suffering in school too much.

Hmm…last chapter wasn't TOO interesting…and this one isn't very interesting either.

BUT! It's important because it's the transition chapter into the INTERESTING one, so I recommend that you guys read it!

Thank for your supports :)

Read and Review!

**Oh, and I forgot to mention in the beginning of this story, but whenever I say "Rookie 9", I actually mean Team 7, 8, 9, and 10 combined; so including Neji, Tenten, and Lee.**

Okay, here we go!

* * *

**Chapter 7- One Step Closer and Realization**

It was a cool, crisp summer night in Konoha, and a pink-haired kunoichi was walking down the crowded street in the main part of the village after her long hospital shift. It was a perfect night for couples to go out and have fun, which almost everybody was doing in the village. As Sakura walked towards the suburban area, she passed by many familiar faces who were either hanging out with friends or on a date with their boyfriends/girlfriends. Being a teenage girl herself, she couldn't help but wonder how amazing it would be to have a boyfriend who loved no one but her. Who would comfort and hold her when she's sad. Who would whisper words of affection in her ear. She could only wonder. To her surprise, her thoughts traced right to Sasuke and she grimaced.

_"Why would I think about Sasuke? I barely know him," _thought Sakura as she thought back to the afternoon that day.

**Flashback**

_It was time for Naruto and Kakashi to leave on their mission, and for once, Kakashi was on time. All of Rookie 9 was there to wish them good luck, and Hinata kissed Naruto goodbye. When the gates closed on Naruto and Kakashi's retrieving figure, everyone started to leave to their own duties one by one. The only ones that didn't move an inch was Sasuke and Sakura. They were too absorbed in their own thoughts to see that they were the only two that were left. Moreover, they were thinking about that night, how everything would work out, how not to make it too awkward, and how to last for 2 weeks. Finally, they snapped out of their thoughts only to be surprised by the presence of the other._

_"Oh, Uchi- I mean –Sasuke, I didn't see you there," said Sakura._

_"Hn," said Sasuke._

_"Well, I gotta go back to the hospital, but I'll see you later," said Sakura as she turned around._

_When Sasuke didn't answer, Sakura turned around to see what was wrong. She was shocked to see that Sasuke's face showed…frustration? She was so confused. When Sasuke finally returned to his cold demeanor, he made a curt nod and swiftly teleported out of the area._

**End Flashback**

_"He's such a mysterious person that it's so hard to understand him at all. How am I gonna last 2 weeks with him?!"_ thought Sakura as she stepped into the Uchiha Compound and walked across the courtyard.

Only one light was on in the whole mansion, so Sakura assumed that he was waiting for her. Sakura then knocked on the big door and waited. Soon enough, Sasuke, in a black shirt and black shorts, opened up the door and let her in. When she walked in and finally looked at him, she gasped. All over his body were bruises and scratches evident from his training.

"What have you done to yourself?" said Sakura as she led him to the couch in the living room. Although she was uncomfortable around him, she couldn't help but be concerned for an injured person.

"I was just training," answered Sasuke, simply as usual.

"Take off your shirt," commanded Sakura as she dug into her bag for some bandages.

Sasuke was taken aback, "What?"

"Well, in order for me to heal you, you're gonna have to take off your shirt."

"Hn, fine," said Sasuke as he took off his black shirt.

Sakura would have gawked at the fact that Sasuke was muscular in all the right places and had the body of a god, but that thought disappeared as soon as she saw all the scratches and bruises hidden under the shirt from previous battles.

"If hurting yourself is your definition of training, I would be looking for a new method of training if I were you," said Sakura as she let out her chakra to the palms of her hands and healed the deepest cuts in his shoulders first.

Sasuke would have said something back, but was put to rest by the soothing feeling of the chakra healing his body. As soon as Sakura was done with the shoulders, she moved on to his arms as Sasuke's eyes started to close. Then his chest. Then his abdomen. Then parts of his legs. Sasuke was so relieved by the healing that he was slowly getting very drowsy. Then the chakra flow stopped and he opened his eyes abruptly. Sakura was putting bandages on some of the serious cuts, but was getting ready to leave. As she was packing up, she started to talk.

"But really, I think you should take care of yourself. I don't wanna come in everyday to see you bruised and scratched all over the place," said Sakura, not looking at his eyes.

"Hn," replied Sasuke.

Sakura was kinda frustrated that all he said to her was "hn", but she didn't say anything. When she was about to leave, to her surprise, Sasuke started to talk to her.

"How was your day?"

Although she didn't know him very well, Sakura knew that Sasuke wasn't a talkative person; so this was something new, "It was fine. I was working at the hospital, like always, and healing many patients, like always. How about you?"

"After the dobe left, I just trained the whole day," said Sasuke.

"Oh, I see," said Sakura, suddenly feeling very awkward at the silence.

"Sakura?"

Sakura flinched at the sudden break in the silence, "Hai?"

"Are you very close to the dobe?"

Sakura was very confused at the sudden question, "Yeah, I think so. Other than you, who's his best friend, and Hinata, his girlfriend, I think I'm pretty close to him."

"Hn," replied Sasuke.

Sakura was so relieved at the fact that they were actually having a conversation that she couldn't stop herself from asking him a question, "Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"You lived in Konoha before you left?"

Sasuke flinched, and Sakura didn't understand why, "Hn, I did."

"…I see. And you went to the Ninja Academy too, right?" said Sakura.

Sasuke tensed at the direction the questions were going, "Hn."

"…I see," said Sakura, now beginning to understand Sasuke's language.

"I apologize, but I need to know just one more thing if we're gonna be seeing each other a lot for the next 2 weeks," said Sakura.

"Hn," said Sasuke, half bracing himself for the question and half amused at the fact that Sakura would apologize for something like that.

"Sasuke…did we know each other when we were little?"

Sasuke flinched again but had to answer, "Not really. I just knew who you were, but I never talked to you. I only talked to Naruto," Sasuke felt so painful on the inside for having to lie to Sakura about their past, when in truth, he wanted to yell out all of their precious memories and force her to remember him. Since he couldn't do that, he attempted to hide his emotions from her, like he always does.

"Oh, okay," said Sakura, finally relieved to get that off her chest, but still bothered by the fact that Sasuke's eyes were cold and hard, and his body was tense.

"It's getting late, you should go home," said Sasuke, still hiding his pain.

Sakura finally realized that he was right and stood up, "Oh yeah, I should be going."

As Sakura walked to the door, Sasuke walked behind her. When Sakura opened the door, she looked back and said, "Good night, Sasuke. Don't train too much, and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hn," said Sasuke as Sakura stepped out, "Good night," said Sasuke as he closed the door.

As Sakura walked out from the Uchiha Compound, she couldn't help but feel happy.

"_I feel so much better now that I talked to him and figured out my problem. So we only saw each other when we were little, I see," _thought Sakura as she smiled and walked home.

"_He's actually not that bad to talk to, once you get past the coldness. Maybe it is possible for me to get closer to him," _thought Sakura.

What Sakura didn't understand was, when she saw that he was injured, how she reacted. Yeah, she would always try to heal someone, but the way she felt when she saw him like that…

"_I felt so much pain when I saw him hurt like that. I've never reacted like that to someone being hurt. Could it be that I like- No, of course not. I don't even know Sasuke that well," _thought Sakura as she opened her door and stepped into her house. She realized how close her house was to Sasuke's than she had thought. Even when she got ready for bed, organized her medical belongings and weapons, set her alarm clock, and slipped into bed, her thoughts were all on only one person: Sasuke.

* * *

**With Sasuke…**

After saying goodnight and closing the door, Sasuke leaned on the doorframe and slid down to the floor. He grabbed his head in pain and hurt at the thought of Sakura.

"Why?! Why can't you remember me?!" yelled Sasuke, surprised at himself at his sudden outburst.

Then he calmed down, _"What am I supposed to do? It's so hard to look at her without feeling pain. It's my fault she's lost her memories of me. It's my fault for not realizing how much it would be painful to see that Sakura, of all people, wouldn't remember me."_

And right then and there, Sasuke realized something.

"_I knew this before, when we were younger as Team 7, when I protected her all the time…"_

_"I knew this when it was so hard for me to leave her tear-streaked face, her proclamation of her love for me, that night 4 years ago…"_

"_I know now why I feel so hurt to see that she doesn't remember me because…"_

"_I-I love Sakura…"_

With this realization, Sasuke could see that this was the answer to all of his questions, all of his pain.

He knew he loved her before, but had pushed it away because of his thirst for power and revenge.

Yet, he couldn't stop it from happening.

He couldn't stop himself from falling in love with her.

Now, his purpose changed.

His purpose for helping Sakura get her memories back of him wasn't for the dobe or for Sakura.

It was to bring him and Sakura back together.

For Sakura to know all the treasured memories between them and be able to know how much he loved and still loves her.

Now, Sasuke was even more determined to bring Sakura's memories back.

* * *

Hmm…this chapter was more interesting than I thought it was… haha:)

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed, and please don't forget to **review!**

I really love to read all of your reviews; it gives me confidence to continue writing this story.

Thanks!:)

Love, Cilla


	8. Could It Be?

Hey guys!

Sorry for LOOOOONG delay…school has been crazy.

But I'm trying to write and sort out all my ideas, so bear with me :)

I hope this chapter will satisfy you guys for the long wait!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Must I do this all the time? I do not own Naruto and its characters.**

* * *

**Chapter 8- Could It Be?**

It's been an exhausting day at the hospital. Twenty ANBUs came back injured from defending themselves against the Akatsuki, who were still intact. On top of that, there were 7 pregnancies, 10 other check-ups, and Tsunade's pissed-off attitude at the Akatsuki. It was too much to take for any regular person, but Sakura wasn't just regular. She had to take care of each and every ANBU, each terrified newborn's mother, and each ninja and villager that needed healing. Even with all those healings and treatments, Sakura didn't complain. She enjoyed being able to treat all of those people and smiled warmly the whole day. That's why everyone wanted to be healed by Sakura. But now, she was on her way to Sasuke's estate, around 12 at night.

_"I hope he's not waiting for me this late," _thought Sakura.

It's been around a week since she's been checking up on Sasuke every night and just the other night, Sasuke gave her a copy of the keys to the house in case he was sleeping and she was late. Sakura smiled at how close they've already gotten. Once in a while, Sasuke would come visit her at the hospital and help out with some hospital stuff. But don't get her wrong, he was still quiet and closed off, but sometimes Sakura sees Sasuke open up to her.

As soon as she thought of Sasuke, she thought about what Ino said previously today.

**FLASHBACK**

"**Sakura, did I tell you that there's something different about you ever since you've been visiting Sasuke?" said Ino, watching her friend getting information of patients from the front desk.**

**"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Sakura as she turned around and looked at herself, "I don't see any changes."**

**"Well I do. It's your eyes. They seem much brighter and clearer than they used to be. It's much prettier now," Ino said with a suspicious look on her face.**

**"My eyes? What do you mean? And why are you looking at me like that?" asked Sakura.**

**"Sakura, are you and Sasuke dating? Is that it?!" asked Ino excitedly.**

**"No!! Of course not! I don't think we're strangers anymore, but maybe… friends?" said Sakura.**

**"Hmm…friends…right. But seriously, it's not only your eyes. Just everything about you has gotten brighter and happier ever since meeting Sasuke," said Ino.**

**"Or maybe it's just what you think," said Sakura.**

**"Hmm…nope. Tenten and Hinata also agree. WAIT! Do you like him?" asked Ino.**

**"Huh? No! I told you we're just friends!" said Sakura, red-faced.**

**"Friends, eh? Okay then, Sakura. See ya around," said Ino, walking out of the hospital, leaving behind a frustrated Sakura.**

_**"Of course she's brighter and happier since meeting Sasuke. Even though she doesn't know it, she has an everlasting bond with Sasuke, and the girls and I can see that. Without her knowing, she probably is starting to like him again," **_**thought Ino as she walked to Shikamaru's house.**

**END FLASHBACK**

"Hmm…me liking Sasuke? No way," said Sakura as she shook her head of the thought and continued to the Compound.

Once there, she was relieved to find that all the lights were turned off, meaning that Sasuke was asleep. She walked up to the front door, dug into her purse for the silver key, and opened the door with the key and stepped inside.

_"Neat and tidy as always," _thought Sakura, smirking as she walked up to his bedroom.

When she reached his door, she quietly opened the door and whispered, "Sasuke? I'm here."

She looked in to find Sasuke on his bed, deep in his sleep. He was sleeping on his side, facing her, with his blanket covering half of his body. She walked closer and examined him with her medic eyes, which were able to pinpoint certain areas on a person's body that were injured or bruised. When she looked around, there were a few cuts here and there, a big purple bruise growing on his leg, and a slight wound that most definitely came from a kunai. And, once again, his wound on his stomach opened slightly again.

"Training again,"grumbled Sakura as she activated her healing chakra and started with the minor cuts and bruises.

While she was healing his body, she looked over at his face and was surprised. Sasuke looked so…peaceful and warm in his sleep. His cold demeanor was safely tucked away when he was unconscious with sleep and Sakura couldn't help but marvel at the thought that Sasuke has an innocent side to him that can only be seen at night, when he's sleeping.

By the time she was done, Sakura was ready to collapse. She's been using her chakra the whole day on her patients and used a couple of chakra boosting potions, but by the time she was finished in the hospital, she was dangerously low on chakra. Although sleep enveloped her whole body, she knew staying at Sasuke's house wasn't an option. Plus, it would be rude of her to spend the night without the host's permission. So slowly, Sakura got up from where she sat in front of Sasuke and slowly grabbed her purse and was about to walk away when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

Sakura turned around, "Sasuke! You're awake."

"Sakura…" whispered Sasuke, looking up at her.

Sakura immediately noticed what she had failed to see before: dark purplish circles forming under his eyes, hair ruffled around so un-Sasuke like, and his tired expression on his face; they all pointed out that Sasuke was very much sleep deprived.

"Sasuke, you're exhausted. I know the way out, so go back to sleep," said Sakura as she tried to move away from his grasp, only to have him grab tighter.

"Sakura…you're more exhausted than me. You're too low on chakra to be safe on the streets, let alone get home before collapsing. Just spend the night here," said Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I'm o-"

"No Sakura, you're not okay. You're tired," said Sasuke, who was getting tired of repeating the same thing over and over again.

"Okay then Sasuke. If you're okay with it. I'll sleep on the couch-"

Sakura was then cut off when Sasuke pulled her in, having her land on the bed, "the couch is uncomfortable," said Sasuke as he pulled her into his embrace.

"…S-Sasuke?" whispered a shocked Sakura as she thought, _"this is so wrong!"_

"Sakura, nothing's going to happen. Just go to sleep," said Sasuke.

"Okay… oyasuminasai (good night)," said Sakura as she closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, trying not to focus on the strong pair of arms around her shoulders and the muscular chest right in front of her face.

"Hn," said Sasuke, holding her closer and having an arm slide down to hold her waist, satisfied in secret at the tiny squeak heard from her mouth.

In truth, the couch was one of the most comfortable places to sleep in the house. However, Sasuke was so intoxicated by Sakura's mere presence that he got curious at how she would feel in his embrace. Plus, he got worried that Sakura would indeed faint before reaching her house or have someone bad show up without the strength to fight them off. There was one thing he was sure of though: when he sees Sakura before going to sleep, he holds her image in his head throughout the night, chasing his nightmares away. But, since he couldn't see Sakura before going to sleep that day, the nightmares came back full force, like a cheetah waiting for the perfect time to strike at its prey. He barely fell back asleep after waking from his nightmare when Sakura stepped into the house. Sasuke needed her so badly that it hurt physically, mentally, AND emotionally.

Sakura was now a necessity for Sasuke.

Soon, the exhausted Sakura fell asleep in the arms of a tired Sasuke.

* * *

At 3 in the morning, Sasuke woke up.

He didn't know why he woke up, but he when he looked down, he was surprised that he wasn't the only one sleeping on his bed. Once his thought process worked, he remembered the events around 3 hours ago and realized it was just Sakura in his arms. He looked down at her sleeping face tenderly. She looked so innocent and small when sleeping, something you can't see when she's awake. It reminded Sasuke of the Sakura 4 years ago and smiled slightly.

_"She really has grown…" _thought Sasuke as he noticed Sakura's arms loosely surrounding his waist in her sleep.

She was so loveable that he couldn't help but lay back down and hold her tighter, feeling her also tighten her embrace in respond. He would give anything to have Sakura's memories return to tell her of his love for her. But for now, it would have to remain hidden away in his heart until the time the real Sakura came back. The Sakura that remembered him for who he was. He brought the blanket back up around them and started to think.

For the past week, even he could see that they've gotten closer than before. Sakura was now very comfortable with visiting him and considered him as her friend. A few days ago, she admitted to him that sometimes visiting him was the best part of her day. He couldn't agree any less, although he didn't tell her. Most of the time now once she finished checking up on him, they would sit around and talk for a good few hours until he would tell her to go home and rest. They would talk about anything, from Naruto growing up to her intense training all these years. Ever since they've gotten closer, he started to worry about her walking home by herself every night and started to walk her home. He knew he had nothing to worry about, but he just couldn't help himself. Sometimes he would visit her in the hospital too. At the thought of the past week, Sasuke closed his eyes.

_"Am I really doing the right thing?" _thought Sasuke.

_"Should I just leave her alone and let her live her life…without me?" _he thought. But as soon as he thought about it, his heart forcedly rejected the idea.

_"I'll worry about that later…" _thought Sasuke as he looked down tenderly at Sakura's sleeping face and started to lull back into sleep. Sasuke held her tight and was consumed by sleep once again.

* * *

**Few hours later…**

Sakura woke up from her deep sleep. She had never felt so refreshed in her life!

_"That had to be the best sleep I ever got!" _thought Sakura, who was getting up when she realized that a strong pair of arms were holding her gently; one around her shoulder and another around her waist. Then she gasped in shock.

_"Sasuke! I slept in Sasuke's bed! WITH Sasuke!" _thought Sakura as she covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

From the tiny movements from Sakura, Sasuke was also waken up and stared down at Sakura, who was looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Uh…Sasuke?" said Sakura, getting red-faced with embarrassment.

"Hn? Oh," Sasuke then noticed their awkward position and removed his arms from her. Sakura then immediately stood up from the bed.

"Uh...sorry about ruining your sleep Sasuke. And thanks for letting me stay over. Then I'll be on my way," said Sakura, fighting the urge to run straight out of the room, out of the house, and out of the area as fast as she could.

"Hn, where are you going?" said Sasuke, calmly, although on the inside he was bursting with emotion at the sight of Sakura so embarrassed and awkward.

"I'm heading home and then going to work again," said Sakura, not being able to hold back a sigh at how routine her life is.

Sasuke, of course, didn't miss that, "You don't have work today."

Sakura laughed at the crazy statement, "I never get off from work. I _can't _get off from work. The patients need me. And plus, how would you know if I didn't have work?"

"Tsunade called yesterday before you got here. And there are other doctors to tend for the patients," said Sasuke.

"Hmm…nah, I'm still going with my instinct and going to work. But the hospital is like my home. I _need _to be there to feel comfortable," said Sakura, happy that their awkwardness dissipated quickly.

"Just relax for one day. Go out with friends, have fun. Or stay at home and do something. Just rest up," said Sasuke.

"I can't. And I really need to be going. I'll see you later, Sasuke," said Sakura, hurriedly leaving the room and out the door, into the cool air of the morning.

_"Why is he so concerned about my well being? Can it be that he really cares?"_ thought Sakura, and when remembering the feeling of security when his arms were around her, it made her feel embarrassed that she ran all the way home.

When she got home, she realized that Sasuke was telling the truth.

Tsunade left a note on the door saying that because of her excessive labor from yesterday, she was granting Sakura a day off. She also wrote that she had called Sasuke last night, but she didn't know if it would get to her.

_"Wow, he was actually telling the truth," _thought Sakura, _"but then again, when has he really lied to you?"_

Without her work, she had nothing to do for the rest of the day. But she took upon Sasuke's offer and decided to just watch movies all day on her _comfortable _couch and have a day of leisure at home.

After taking a long hot bath, Sakura stepped out of the bathroom in her bathrobe when the doorbell rang. She gasped and ran to her room and put on some comfortable clothes. The doorbell rang again.

"Hold on! I'll be right there!" yelled Sakura as she raced to the door, opening to find a slightly amused Sasuke, looking at Sasuke with her loose-fit shirt and sweatpants.

"S-Sasuke? What are you doing here?" asked Sakura.

"I told you," said Sasuke.

"Huh?"

"I told you that you didn't have work today," said Sasuke with a smirk.

"Yeah…" grumbled Sakura, letting Sasuke in.

"So what are you doing here? You never answered me," said Sakura, bringing two cups of orange juice to the living room, where Sasuke was walking around looking at her pictures. Sasuke was so distracted by something that he didn't hear Sakura.

"Earth to Sasuke, Sasuke are you there?" said Sakura walking over to Sasuke, who was staring at an empty place on top of the counter…where a picture should have been. Sasuke knew which one.

"What happened to the picture here?" asked Sasuke, pointing to the empty place.

"Oh, I think it was a picture of my team and me in our genin days. Naruto said he needed to borrow it and never gave it back," said Sakura.

"Hn, I see," said Sasuke, _"nice move, dobe."_

"Sasuke!"

"Hn?"

"You never answered my question!"

"Which one?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to hang out with me for today.

"W-What?"

"Sakura, you know I don't like to repeat myself."

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

_"Is this too much at once?" _thought Sasuke uneasily while he watched Sakura scrutinizing his face.

_"What is he trying to do? I don't understand…And why is my heart thumping so fast?" _thought Sakura.

"Sakura? You alright?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that. And I would be happy to hang out with you!" said Sakura, _"at least, that's what my heart wants…"_

"Okay then. What were you gonna do today?" asked Sasuke, _"I can't believe she actually said yes!"_

"Well…I was just gonna watch movies and chill at home. Is that okay?"

"Hn," said Sasuke, taking a seat on the couch.

Sakura almost laughed as she went into the kitchen for some refreshments. She could never picture Sasuke so casual looking at her home.

Sakura walked back to the couch, put down the refreshments on the coffee table, and took a seat next to Sasuke. Once they chose their movie, which happened to be "A Walk to Remember", they sat back and started to watch. That's when the awkwardness started.

At first, everything was okay, with Landon and Jamie in the beginning of the movie. But once the romance began between the two characters, it became awkward with Sasuke and Sakura. They both were stiff in their seats, trying so hard not to show any signs of emotion.

_"In my whole entire life…" _thought Sasuke.

_"…I never felt this way for someone," _thought Sakura, _"could it mean that I have feelings for Sasuke?"_

But by the end of the movie, both Sasuke and Sakura were getting kinda drowsy from waking up so early in the morning. Sasuke briefly closed his eyes when he felt something on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked over to see Sakura sleeping, leaning on his shoulder. He smiled and leaned back on the couch so Sakura was leaning on his chest, sleeping comfortably. He knew it was wrong to do this without her permission, but he wrapped an arm around her waist, drew her closer to him, and then planted a light kiss on her forehead. Then Sasuke began to fall asleep for the second time with his lover in his arms.

* * *

Wow…I suck at uploading new chapters.

I'm really sorry that guys.

But! I hope you guys enjoyed at last chapter. There was a lot of SasuSaku fluff, right?

But yeah, I'll try my best to continue writing, so bear with me!

Until next time!

Love, Cilla :)


	9. By Your Side

Hello my beloved and wonderful readers!

I'm sorry for my lack of updates even though you guys are always telling me to update quickly.

But I promise you that I will not fail you, for this chapter happens to be, I guess, the climax of the whole story?

I hope you guys enjoy~! :)

* * *

**Chapter 9- By Your Side**

Sakura, with a frustrated look on her face, was trudging in the pouring rain with an umbrella over her head on her way to Hinata's house 8 in the evening. She was finishing up her duties in the hospital when one of the nurses informed her that the Hyuuga heiress invited her over to dinner at 8 and Sakura willingly accepted. It's been a while since she talked to Hinata and was excited. Hinata, unlike Ino, was a great listener. But when she talked, she gave the best advices and encouragements one needed. And these days, Sakura needed plenty of advices about having feelings for someone. Yes, it was Sasuke. Even as she was walking to Hinata's mansion, she was thinking about Sasuke.

_"After that little 'date' we had couple of days ago, we've gotten closer than ever…at least...that's what I think," _thought Sakura.

_**"Well everyone we encounter on the streets are asking if Sasuke and we are dating and congratulates us saying 'finally,' which I have no clue about," **_**said Inner Sakura.**

"_Yeah, I have no idea why they say that either. But when they see my confused face, they cover their mouths with their hands like they said something secret. Hmm… well it is true we're friends, but can he think of me as something more?"_

"_**I mean, this is Sasuke we're talking about. We haven't known him that long, but we can see that he HATES socializing with anyone. It's very impossible that he could ever LIKE anyone. But if he does, SHANNARO FOR US!"**_

"_Well… we'll have to ask Hinata," _said Sakura as she knocked on the huge door of the Hyuuga mansion.

The door opened, "Who is- Oh, hey Sakura," said Neji.

"Hey Neji! Hinata invited me over for dinner. Is she in?" asked Sakura.

"Of course, she's been waiting for you. Come on in," said Neji as he opened the door wide enough for Sakura to come through.

"So…how's it going with Tenten?" asked Sakura slyly, enjoying the blush appearing on Neji's cheeks. She knew Neji was as emotionless as Sasuke, but knew Tenten took care of that as his beloved.

"W-Well it's going fine. Actually, I'm supposed to go over her house as soon as I take you to Hinata," stammered Neji.

"Aww you're so sweet, Neji. I know my way to Hinata's room from here, so don't keep Tenten waiting," said Sakura with a small smile.

"Arigatou Sakura. I'll see ya around," said Neji as he turned around and walked back to the entrance.

"_They are so cute together," _thought Sakura as she walked up the majestic staircase to Hinata's room.

She opened the door to Hinata's room, only to see her blissfully looking through an album of pictures of Naruto and her. Hinata saw Sakura, blushed, and got up from her bed, leading Sakura downstairs to the dining room.

"You must really miss him, Hinata," said Sakura, looking over at her friend.

"W-Well…I gotta admit that I've been looking at that album everyday so far. I'm so worried about him. Hokage-sama said that the mission was a difficult one…" said Hinata, worry striking her gentle face.

"Hinata, both you and I know that Naruto never gives up. And he always pull through. I bet that he's thinking about you right now too. Just be strong for him until the day he comes back," said Sakura with a gentle smile, satisfied at her friend returning to her comfort.

* * *

After dinner, they went back upstairs to talk about things over a cup of tea.

"Have you heard any news about Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"Not at all. That's why I'm getting so worried. I've checked with Tsunade-sama couple times this week but no news," said Hinata, looking down.

"Hmm…Maybe they didn't have time. But I'm sure he's fine, I mean, it's not like he went by himself. He has Kakashi-sensei to help him get out of trouble," said Sakura.

"Yes, I forgot about Kakashi-sensei. You're right. I just hope he makes it in time for the Konoha Shinobi Ball," said Hinata.

"What's that?"

"It's something that Tsunade-sama learned from a faraway village where they have all the shinobis come dressed up formally and have a ball with dancing and food for one night of no work," said Hinata.

"No work? That sounds like heaven. But I probably won't go," said Sakura indifferently.

"What do you mean? You love to hang out at parties,"

"Yeah, but I have too much to do. If all the medic-nins are at the ball, who will take care of the patients in the hospital? I think I should stay back and help," said Sakura.

"Oh Sakura…You have to come. You push yourself too much these days," said Hinata.

"I like to help people. It makes me happy that when I help them, they get better," said Sakura with a smile.

"Speaking about happiness, now talk to me, Sakura. What's going on with you and Sasuke-san? Word has it that you guys might be in a relationship?" asked Hinata, switching the tables around and seeing Sakura blush for once.

"Ah, well, whoever came up with that conclusion is wrong," said Sakura, _"Although it doesn't seem too bad of an idea…Oh my gosh did I just say that?"_

"Oh, so you guys aren't dating? Ino's been telling me how amazing you looked these days ever since Sasuke-san came into the picture. And seeing you now, I can see what she saw," said Hinata.

"What do you guys see that has changed?"

"Well for starters, your eyes are so bright and full of energy. And your skin has color. You used to be so pale that you could be called a ghost," said Hinata.

"Oh…I see…" said Sakura.

"So nothing's really going on between you two?"

"Nothing…I think. We just got really close and I think we're friends now. I've got to know him really well over the past few days. But…"

"But?" said Hinata, curiosity leaking out.

"But…I don't know what I feel for him. When I see him, I feel really happy, so happy that my heart might burst out. When he talks to me, that's all I can hear. And everyday when I see him injured, it hurts me a little on the inside. What am I feeling, Hinata?" asked Sakura with a desperate look on her face.

Hinata smiled brightly, "It's called love, Sakura."

"Love? But I can't be in love with Sasuke," said Sakura.

"And why not?"

"I-I don't know…But every time I'm with him, I feel a lot of déjà vu, like I've actually talked to him before or I've heard him say my name before," said Sakura.

"Hmm…I see…" said Hinata, _"maybe her memories _will _come back…"_

Sakura checked the time and saw that it was 11, "Oh I gotta go to Sasuke, Hinata. But what do you think I should do?"

"Hmm…Well I think you should continue to do what you've been doing so far. I'm sure everything will work out fine, Sakura," said Hinata reassuringly.

"Thanks Hinata. You're the best," said Sakura as she waved goodbye and hurried out of the Hyuuga estate, on her way to Sasuke's house.

* * *

She knew he would be sleeping by now and felt bad that she always come late. But, she secretly enjoyed the fact that she would see him sleeping comfortably, which always brought her happiness. Thankfully, the Hyuuga mansion wasn't too far off from the Uchiha Compound, walking up to his door and unlocking it to go into the dark house.

She quietly walked up to his room and opened the door to see Sasuke sleeping with no surprise. What surprised her though was the expression on Sasuke's face. He seemed so troubled and scared. She saw sweat glistening on his forehead, resulting from some kind of effort. His sheet was tousled around and his hair was messy.

"_He must have had a bad dream," _thought Sakura as she checked over his body for minor injuries and checked his stomach wound, which had started to heal quickly.

As she was leaving, she heard him mumble and turned around.

"No…please…don't…don't do that…NO!" yelled Sasuke, shaking violently in his sleep.

"Sasuke? Sasuke!" yelled Sakura as she rushed to his side to help him calm down.

"OROCHIMARU! YOU SNAKE!" yelled Sasuke.

"Sasuke, it's just a dream! Please wake up!" yelled Sakura, starting to get worried.

"HOW COULD YOU – HOW COULD YOU HAVE DONE THAT TO HER!" yelled Sasuke, even louder.

"Sasuke, please! Wake up!"

"YOU WILL DIE FOR HURTING HER!" yelled Sasuke when all of a sudden, he opened his eyes.

Sakura was relieved when all of a sudden Sasuke shot up from his bed.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke didn't even look at her, even with his eyes open. Then Sakura realized that his eyes weren't the dark onyx that she was used to; it was a bright red with swirling black commas.

"S-Sasuke?" asked Sakura as she stepped closer.

"AHH!" yelled Sasuke as he suddenly crouched down and started to change before Sakura's eyes.

His hair became a blue grey and grew longer. His light skin suddenly turned grey. But most frightening, his shirt ripped in the back revealing two huge claw-like wings. Then he stood up straight.

"S-Sasuke…t-this isn't you. What happened to you?"

Judging by his lack of response, Sakura guessed that he was still in his nightmare, "Sasuke, please wake up! You'll hurt your-"

"DIE YOU MONSTER!" yelled Sasuke and slashed his right side with his powerful claw…

…the exact place where Sakura was, sending her flying into his door, making a huge crack.

There was a huge gash in Sakura's abdomen and the collision with the door seemed to have cracked a few ribs in her body. But Sakura quickly healed her ribs to perfect condition but did not even think about the wound, for she was focused so hard on Sasuke.

His hands were now glowing a bright blue with the jutsu he conjured up, but Sakura knew that she had to stop him. She didn't even think about her well-being and only about Sasuke's. So she stood up and ran to Sasuke, who was facing her, and embraced him.

"Sasuke…I don't know what's going on with you, but please, change back to the real Sasuke!" yelled Sakura, bracing herself as Sasuke struggled to go free.

"P-Please Sasuke…Please…" said Sakura, as streaks of tears cascaded down her tormented face at seeing Sasuke like this.

Sasuke, in his curse mark form, suddenly stopped moving and paused at seeing Sakura's sorrowful tears. Then his mind clicked back into place with the memory of Sakura in the Forest of Death, in the same situation that they were in at the moment…

The image of young Sakura crying while holding him from the back and the image of Sakura now crying in front of him broke through Sasuke's nightmare and he collapsed into Sakura's arms. Suddenly, Sasuke started changing again and returned back to normal.

Sakura healed him immediately and put her healing hand to his forehead and cleared his mind so he can rest. Then she healed some of the scratches that Sasuke had inflicted on himself. In exhaustion, she picked him up and set him down on his bed, tucking him in. Thankfully, Sasuke was back to a deep slumber for now and Sakura just looked at him from her place next to his bed in sorrow.

"_Sasuke…is this what you've been going through every night? I'm sorry I didn't know and couldn't be there for you all this time…"_ thought Sakura as she continued to gaze sleepily at his now relaxed face.

When Sakura thought he was fine and got up to leave, Sasuke started tossing and turning and mumbling in his sleep.

"Sakura…Sakura…" said the sleeping Sasuke.

"Yes Sasuke? What is it?" said Sakura, immediately returning back to the side of his bed.

"Sakura…please…" whispered Sasuke as a lone tear dropped from his eyes.

Sakura, without realizing her legs moved, suddenly went onto the bed and drew Sasuke's head into her lap, "Sasuke…I'll be there by your side…don't worry…"

"Sakura…I'm sorry…" whispered Sasuke one more time before going back to sleep.

As she looked over Sasuke's sleeping figure, she couldn't help but be worried sick. However, a stronger emotion filled her heart at looking at him so content on her lap and she couldn't stop herself from gently touching his porcelain face, the moonlight striking his handsome features.

His forehead…His cheeks…His eyelids…His nose…His mouth.

This feeling of hers grew bigger and bigger that it felt like her heart would burst any second. It overwhelmed her that it actually hurt badly.

"_What is this feeling?" _thought Sakura.

Then it clicked. Previously, when she and Hinata were conversing about Naruto, Hinata described to her how it felt like to be in love.

**FLASHBACK**

**"Hinata, what does it feel like to be in love? I never truly loved someone in my whole entire life, so I don't know that feeling," said Sakura.**

**_"Of course you know…you just don't know you loved someone yet…and still do…"_ thought Hinata, "Hmm…how to explain that feeling…"**

**"When you're in love, you feel something pulsating from your heart whenever you look at that person. The feeling engulfs your whole body that it can be painful, but a pain that you can endure. When you're with that person, you feel like the world suddenly became a happier place to live in. And when that person is hurt, you feel your life crumbling down with their pain. Love can also make you do crazy things that you don't realize you're even doing," said Hinata.**

**"…Wow…I didn't know love was such a powerful thing," said Sakura in awe.**

**"It really is…" said Hinata, _"Out of all of us, you had the greatest love of all, Sakura."_**

**END FLASHBACK**

"This feeling….This pain…Could it be that I-I'm-"

Sakura took a big breath and let go of the words she wanted to say, "I-I'm in love with Sasuke?"

As she pondered over that hypothesis, she looked down at Sasuke's-now-peaceful state and couldn't help but caress his jet black hair.

_"Whether it's love or something else, all I know is I will be there for Sasuke…"_ thought Sakura as she slowly fell into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

**The Next Morning…**

Hinata paced back and forth with the Konoha 12 impatiently at the village gates. Everyone was there…except for Sasuke and Sakura.

_"Where are they? More importantly, when is he coming?" _thought Hinata as she worriedly gazed over at the road that her beloved and his sensei should be walking home on.

_"I hope Sakura is okay…and Sasuke-san…"_

"Hey! Look over there! I see them!" yelled Tenten.

Hinata eagerly looked over and breathed a sigh of relief. She saw Naruto and Kakashi-sensei trudging on their way into proximity. When Naruto looked up and met eyes with Hinata, he started running.

"Hinata-chan!" yelled Naruto.

Hinata ran all the way to the entrance, where Naruto met her with a huge embrace. After the whole hearted hug, Naruto began to kiss her everywhere: her forehead, eyes, cheeks, nose, and mouth.

"Oh my gosh, I missed you so much! I thought I was gonna die spending all that time away from you and with pervy Kakashi-sensei!" said Naruto, pulling back from his embrace to take a good look at his lover.

Hinata leaned in and kissed him sweetly on the mouth, "I missed you too, Naruto-kun," as Naruto tightened his arms around her waist and pulled her into his arms once again.

"Those lovebirds. Naruto was dreaming about Hinata one night and almost kissed me while wrapping his arms around me. It was the worst experience ever," said Kakashi as he greeted everyone, pulled out his book, and headed towards the Hokage Tower to report their mission.

"Hey Hina-chan, where's Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme?"

"I have no idea. I hope they're at their homes, sleeping," said Hinata.

"How 'bout you and I head over to Teme's house and check up on him?"

"Sure, Naru-kun."

They finally arrived at the Uchiha Compound and Naruto took out a spare key and opened the door.

"Are you sure we're not intruding? I mean, he's probably sleeping," whispered Hinata.

"It's okay. With me, it's not called intruding. And plus, he should be happy to see his best friend back from a mission."

They headed up to Sasuke's room and opened the door.

"SASUKE-TE-" Naruto stopped in his tracks as his jaw opened up, reaching the floor.

"Oh my!" Hinata gasped and covered her mouth with both hands.

In front of them was Sasuke, sleeping contently on his bed…

…But his head was in Sakura's lap, who had one hand on his head and one holding Sasuke's hand tightly.

"Uh…Hinata-chan?"

"H-Hai?"

"Let's leave!" said Naruto as he dashes out of the house holding Hinata by the hand.

Finally they were out of the Uchiha Compound, walking briskly, "So exactly what happened while I was gone?" said Naruto, grinning at the fact that his plan worked…at least, that's what he thought.

"Trust me, I have no idea either. How about we ask them later, when they both are awake?"

"Good idea. Oh and Hina-chan?" said Naruto, looking uneasily at his girlfriend, who was by his side, holding his hand.

"Hai, Naru-kun?" asked Hinata as she looked over at Naruto, who was growing bright red.

"Naruto-kun! Are you okay? Do you have a fever?" asked Hinata, putting her hand up to his forehead.

"N-No. I'm not sick," said Naruto, taking Hinata's hand with his free hand, holding both of her hands.

"Then what's wrong?"

"U-Uh…Well… C-Could we do what Teme and Sakura-chan was doing too? I-I'm so tired from the mission." asked Naruto nervously.

This time, it was Hinata who became red as a ripe tomato, "U-Uh…Sure, Naruto-kun."

A few minutes later, Naruto and Hinata were seen at the park bench, Naruto lying down on the bench with his head in Hinata lap while Hinata caressed his hair.

_"Everything is actually working out…"_ thought Naruto happily.

* * *

Whooooooo~!

You guys gotta admit that was a good chapter!

More Reviews please!

And I'll try to update more, since school's almost over!

With love,

Cilla :)


	10. It's All My Fault

Hello everyone!

I'm terribly sorry for not updating for AGES guys.

Junior year has been KILLER, I know, feel sorry for me XP

The ideas for this chapter have been in my mind forever, but it's so hard to get it down, you know?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

(Actually, you guys might not, since this one is gonna be a downer for all you SasuSaku fluff fans. Sorry!)

* * *

**Chapter 10- It's All My Fault**

As the slam of the front door resonated throughout the mansion, Sasuke opened his eyes. He had heard everything: Naruto and Hinata coming in, opening his bedroom door, gasping, and running out.

_"Why were they so surprised?"_ thought Sasuke as he faced his head towards the ceiling and gasped.

Sakura was leaning against the bedpost with a hand to his head, the other holding his own hand, sleeping heavily. He also noticed that HIS head was in HER lap.

Sasuke was in relief that Sakura was still asleep, since she would have freaked out if she saw them in this position, but his eyes grew wide when he saw the expression on Sakura's face.

She looked as if she was in a huge amount of pain but trying to conceal it even in her slumber. Then he noticed that one side of his hair was clumped and touched it with the unoccupied hand. There was dry blood caked on that side of his head. He then turned his head abruptly to Sakura's abdomen and saw the gigantic wound.

_"What happened to her while I was sleeping?" _thought Sasuke while he thought back to the previous night.

All that he could remember is that he fell asleep and had one of the worst nightmares in his entire life.

The story line was still the same as all of his previous nightmares: He could see Sakura getting stabbed by the poisoned kunai, her falling over in pain, and Orochimaru cackling in satisfaction. Except in this nightmare, Orochimaru was in front of him rubbing it in his face how he had hurt Sasuke's precious cherry blossom. So, by instinct, he transformed into a demon of the curse mark and lunged out at the snake. And for some reason, suddenly his nightmare flashed back to the Forest of Death incident, where Sakura embraced him from behind to stop his curse mark's rampage. In his dream, however, she embraced him from the front where he could see the fear, pain, and despair in her eyes clearly as her tears cascaded down her porcelain cheeks. And, he also noticed, this Sakura was older than the one from the memory: the Sakura of the present.

When he took another look at the gash, he saw that her clothes as well as the wound looked like huge scratch marks. He looked around his room and saw that his door was slightly ajar, like something crashed into it. Did she get attacked in the middle of the night while he slept? And did she protect him who obviously didn't and couldn't wake up?

He then got up from Sakura's lap, removed her hand from his quietly as to not wake her up, laid her down carefully on his bed into a comfortable position, placed the blanket over her body, and trudged to the mirror. He definitely felt and looked like crap this morning, probably from the horrible nightmare. He appeared to be ten times older from the added stress. Then, he noticed his shirt was very ruffled and wrinkled and couldn't help but think there was something wrong. He turned his body around in the mirror and his eyes grew huge as he saw a sight he never wanted to see ever again: his shirt had two forced holes on the back, exactly right below his shoulders.

His mind suddenly clicked as it brought everything together. It was him. He hurt Sakura in his sleep. He gave her the wound on her stomach.

He didn't know that Sakura was there with him at the time of his nightmare and couldn't believe that he was so engrossed in the dream to physically move while sleeping. But the evidence was plainly there before him. He must have attacked her with his massive claw wings thinking she was Orochimaru, thus the force of the attack sending her flying against his bedroom door. But she was probably too busy trying to help him to even notice her deadly wound.

Sasuke slowly walked back next to the bed, staring at Sakura's face and the wound in complete horror, removing his usual cool façade. He knelt next to her sleeping form and just stared at her.

"_I-I am a…monster…" _thought Sasuke, trying to hold back frustrated and angry tears that suddenly built up in his eyes.

"…_A monster that hurts the one he cares about the most…"_

Then, at that moment, small tears from the corners of his eyes cascaded down onto his cheek as he held Sakura's right hand tightly in both of his. He lowered his head to her enclosed hand as his whole body shook with uncontrollable silent sobs. He then realized that her hand was ice cold from losing so much blood. Coming back to reality, Sasuke placed his right hand on her stomach and a blue chakra emitted from his palm. Sakura's wound started to heal little by little with passing time. Soon enough, only a small scratch was left on her abdomen. Sasuke silently thanked his horrible experiences with Orochimaru where he himself had to treat his own wounds. Back then, he had learned by himself how to heal with chakra from Kabuto's stolen books.

Suddenly, through his tears, Sasuke made a silent promise. His eyes glowed with determination and a hint of searing pain.

"_I can't do this anymore. Every second she spends with me puts her life in peril, not only from the dangers in my life, but also from me as well. I need to try to distance myself from Sakura," _thought Sasuke.

He then looked down at Sakura's now peaceful face and brushed a lock of hair off of her cheek.

"_Trying to ignore her, distancing myself from her, is going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. But I must, for Sakura's sake," _thought Sasuke as he whispered quietly, "Haruno Sakura, Please forgive me for what I say and do from this day forth. But I have to do this to save you from me and my problems, like I tried all those years ago for you and Naruto. I'll find another way to get your memories back for me, for you, and for Naruto."

Sasuke slowly removed his hands from hers and gently placed it on her stomach. As he was walking away from the bed towards the door, he turned and took one last look at her serene face and engraved it into his mind. Then he turned around again and left the room, washed up, and went to train to not think about Sakura, slowly practicing to be able to conjure up his cold, stoic manner the next time he saw her.

* * *

Hahaha thought that I would write more, did you? :)

I actually think this is my shortest chapter yet in this story, right?

I know it's not an excuse, but junior year with three AP classes has been taking its toll on me.

I mean, I have this WHOLE story all planned out in my head but I never have the time to get them into full chapters on Microsoft Word.

Anyways, thank you so much to all of the remaining supporters I have out there!

Arigatou and with love, Cilla :)

Oh, and don't forget to review! I love reading them!


	11. You're Annoying

Hello everyone! :)

Long time no update!

Sorry about that guys, after a rigorous school year ended, I had a busy and lazy summer.

And on top of that, my laptop began to malfunction and I needed to get it fixed.

However, I have NEVER lost any hope on my amazing story!

I've actually been remodeling and rethinking my ideas for the upcoming chapters.

I don't know when they'll actually be written, but everything's planned out!

I hope you enjoy the chapter! Although it's a bit on the downside :(

There has to be ups and downs to Sasuke and Sakura's relationship, right?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form. If I did, well, you know what would have happened :)**

* * *

**Chapter 11- "You're Annoying"**

**Two Hours Later, around noon time…**

As the sun shone brightly through the bedroom window, its rays stroke the beautiful sleeping face of the pink-haired kunoichi, waking her up with its warmth. She slowly opened her sleepy eyes and looked around at her surroundings.

"Where am I?" groaned Sakura. "Oh wait, I'm in Sasuke's room from yesterday."

"…Wait…Sasuke? Sasuke!" yelled Sakura as she remembered the events that took place yesterday and frantically looked for Sasuke on the bed. When she saw that the bed was empty, as well as the room, she searched for his chakra throughout the whole house and discovered that he wasn't there.

"Well…being Sasuke, he probably went training. But still, I need to check and see if he's okay from yesterday's nightmare," she said as she dragged her feet off the comfortable bed and placed them on the ground. When she tried to get up, she winced in pain from her abdomen. She peered down at the small but noticeable gash on her stomach and recalled her being slammed into the door when Sasuke's claw scratched her.

"Ah…I was so busy trying to calm down Sasuke that I fell asleep without healing it. Hmm…it's not as serious as I remembered it though…," said Sakura to herself as she healed the gash fully and fleetingly looked at the clock on the wall.

"WHAT? IT'S 12 ALREADY? HOLY CRAP I'M LATE FOR WORK!" she yelled as she flung the blanket off and dashed straight out of the Uchiha Compound towards the Konoha hospital.

_"I guess I'm gonna have to check up on Sasuke later then… I hope he's doing fine_," thought Sakura as she ran right into her office to get ready, coming face-to-face with a furious Tsunade who vehemently reprimanded her for being 6 hours late for work.

* * *

**3:00 p.m. With Sasuke…**

It was hours since Sasuke stepped onto the dirt covered grounds of the Team 7 training area and started his almost suicidal training. Since Naruto was nowhere to be found, Sasuke had to conjure up his own clone and spar with it, equaling him in skill, knowledge, and physique.

_"Hn, that Dobe's probably busy with Hinata. I don't need him anyway," _thought Sasuke as he continued to fight rigorously with his clone. Usually clones would disappear with a _poof _upon contact, but Sasuke's clone was just as good as he was that he could dodge all the attacks inflicted by the real Sasuke.

Sasuke's thoughts about Naruto and Hinata had him slightly desiring for what they had. Pure happiness and content. That was what he really wanted in life. It was what drove him to spend the best parts of his life chasing after his brother to revenge the clan. He now knew what his true happiness and content was and _who_ he desired the most, but he vehemently shook his head to clear his mind.

_"No. I will not think about her right now. Focus, Sasuke, focus."_

As he continued to dodge and attack his clone, someone appeared on the grounds with a smug smile on his face. Sasuke could only groan in frustration.

_"This is not a good time…"_

"Oi Sasuke-teme, trying to train to become better than the NEXT HOKAGE?" yelled Naruto holding the hand of a timid Hinata.

"…" Sasuke continued training without acknowledging the couple to his side.

"What? Not even a 'hello' or a 'welcome back' to your best friend?" said Naruto with narrowed eyes.

"Leave me alone Naruto, I'm not in the mood," said Sasuke as he tried to focus his attention on the taijutsu attacks of his clone.

"Why so grumpy? Someone woke up on the wrong side of Sakura-chan's-"

"Naruto-kun…" whispered Hinata while shaking her head to cease his teasing when he looked at her.

Sasuke was now beyond pissed. He tried for hours to not think about Sakura and almost accomplished that goal when Naruto with one word, her name, brought back all the memories of her and him in the course of two weeks. Sasuke released his clone and it disappeared with a _poof_. However, he did not turn to face Naruto and looked straight into the forest.

"Do not say her name in front of me," muttered Sasuke in anger.

"Nani? What do you mean not say Sakur-"

"Nevermind. Just leave me alone," seethed Sasuke cutting off Naruto abruptly as he trudged away from a shocked Naruto and Hinata when SHE appeared in front of him.

"Sasuke," she sighed in relief, "there you are. I was working when I got a short break. I just came by to check up on you fast. You can't imagine how mad Tsunade-shishou was when I showed up for work 6 hours late," she smiled sheepishly, "well at least I got a good night sleep. Now," she walked towards him into the clearing with her hands reaching out, "let me just check-"

"I'm fine," said Sasuke, brushing her hands away from him. Then he _attempted _to walk away when her concerned-thick voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Sasuke? What's wrong? Are you okay?" said a worried Sakura, _"why is he acting so distant towards me?"_

"I said I'm fine. Just leave me alone," said Sasuke through gritted teeth.

"What's going on? You're acting different than usu-"

He turned around and glared, "I said leave me alone. Don't make me repeat myself." He turned back around again and closed his eyes to say the final words that would help him let go of the girl behind him, even though his heart vehemently rejected the idea.

"After all this time, you're still annoying," said Sasuke clearly but silently enough that Naruto and Hinata a few feet back from Sakura wouldn't hear him, his heart being torn to a million pieces for hurting Sakura. But he knew that it had to be done, and that assurance gave him confidence to walk away from his agonized cherry blossom a few steps behind him.

"A-Annoying? I-I don't understand…" whispered Sakura in shock when there was a huge _pang _in her heart at the immense hurt. The ache in her heart spread to all parts of her body and a sharp pain resonated in her head. Suddenly feeling weak and faint, Sakura collapsed to the ground as her legs gave out under her, looking at the place where Sasuke stood with his back towards her a few seconds ago.

_"After all this time, you're still annoying…"_

_"…You're still annoying…"_

_"…Annoying…"_

The phrase repeated itself constantly inside her head, making it throb harder each time, hurting her even more and more. She didn't know what hurt most: That confusing and hurtful last remark or Sasuke's unusual cold and scathing behavior.

An alarmed Naruto and Hinata ran quickly to where Sakura collapsed to her knees, "Sakura-chan, are you okay?" asked Hinata, crouching behind Sakura to hold her steady.

"I-I'm fine. But something's wrong with S-Sasuke. I need to help him-"

Naruto gently held Sakura in place, holding both her shoulders gently, "Sakura-chan, Sasuke's just having a bad day. You need rest. I'll go and see what's going on," he said as he looked into Hinata's eyes, nodded, and jogged after Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan, I'm sure everything will be fine," said Hinata with a smile that didn't reach up to her eyes. For some reason, she had a bad feeling about Sasuke's sudden change of attitude. Something drastic definitely happened to him, for he would never, ever since he returned to Konoha, hurt Sakura in any way possible. She desperately hoped Naruto would resolve the conflict.

"Thanks Hinata," said Sakura emotionlessly without looking back at Hinata and staring far into the forest that Sasuke, and now Naruto, went into.

_"Please Naruto…please figure out what's wrong with him…"_

The memory continued to reverberate through her ears, ceaselessly causing an indescribable ache.

"…_You're still annoying…"_

"Sakura-chan! Please wake up!"

Sakura then suddenly fainted in Hinata's arms with one thought in mind.

"…_Sasuke…kun…"_

* * *

**In the forest with Sasuke…**

Unbeknownst to Sakura, Sasuke was thinking of the exact same thing over and over again inside his head as he trudged his way deeper into the dark and dense forest.

_"…You're still annoying…"_

Sasuke stopped walking abruptly and grabbed his head in frustration. He couldn't get it out of his head, couldn't get _her _out of his head.

Her face knotted in deep confusion and hurt.

Her expression contorted in blatant sorrow.

Her legs giving away under her, leaving her on the dirty ground.

Although his body was turned away from her, he could sense everything from her at that very moment.

What was he to do now?

He knew for sure that he couldn't live without her anymore—she blinded him away from the darkness permanently once she walked back into his life.

However, he also knew that there was the risk of hurting her in every way if she stayed near him.

Sasuke lowered his head and let out a dark chuckle from under his raven bangs. When did he begin to care for someone else other than himself? He, the boy who knew nothing but revenge and power. When had he become so soft?

He did not know the answers to any of his questions, but he was sure of one thing.

He will make sure Sakura doesn't get hurt by being near him. EVER.

Once Sasuke reassured himself with his purpose, he began to walk again through the dense bushes and branches in his way.

He used all his willpower to ignore the aching, painful feeling underneath his chest.

He continued walking, one step at a time, further and further away from his pink-haired blossom, when all of a sudden, a hand grasped his right shoulder.

"Uchiha Sasuke," muttered a low voice, "I demand you to tell me what is going on."

Sasuke didn't even look back in acknowledgment, "Naruto, I thought I told you to leave me alone. There's nothing going on."

"Nothing's going on? Right. That would explain why the infamous Uchiha Sasuke, one of the strongest shinobis in this village, would fail to notice a fellow shinobi walk up behind him," said Naruto, pulling Sasuke's shoulder hard to twist him around to face him.

Sasuke kept a straight, emotionless face as he stared back at Naruto, not replying at all. He really didn't want to snap at his friend, keeping his boiling anger in check.

"Look Sasuke," sighed Naruto, brushing a hand through his hair while looking at his friend, "I just want to help you. Trust me this once. Let me help you this time."

Sasuke tried turning away from his friend, closing his eyes in irritation from Naruto's face which resembled the heartbreaking expression on Sakura's, "I don't need your help. So leave me."

Naruto, now completely pissed, twisted Sasuke around to face him again, "WHAT IS GOING ON BETWEEN YOUTWO?"

Sasuke, now unable to hold onto his rage and frustration any longer, exploded in Naruto's face, eyes wide and the activated Sharingan swirling in fury, "WHAT PART OF 'LEAVE ME ALONE' DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? I HURT HER NARUTO! I CAN'T BEAR TO HURT HER ANYMORE!"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. Never had he seen his best friend burst in fury. Especially because of compassion for another human being. Although Sasuke didn't explain the whole story, Naruto was able to understand what happened within the few words of Sasuke's outburst.

In a calm, quiet tone, Naruto whispered, "Sasuke…exactly how did you hurt her?"

Sasuke, now completely devoid of anger and emotion, slumped against a nearby tree.

For once, he decided, he needed his best friend's support.

With a huge intake of breath, Sasuke glanced up at Naruto, who was waiting calmly for Sasuke to talk, and looked down at the moist earth underneath his shoes.

Then, he began to quietly talk about the two weeks that Naruto was absent from, from the sweet beginning to the disastrous ending.

* * *

Wahh :(

This was a hard chapter to write, especially since I was putting my two main characters in such pain.

But I hope the sadness and pain Sasuke and Sakura felt was transferred to you guys as well!

Some of you guys might be wondering what happened to Sakura, but you will find out in the next chapter! (Whenever that may be T.T)

Oh and random thought: I just realized that this is my shortest chapter in 'Hidden Love' so far! Interesting~

But anyway, thanks for reading guys! Reviews are welcome!

Cilla :)


	12. If Only You Knew

**Recap:**

In a calm, quiet tone, Naruto whispered, "Sasuke…exactly how did you hurt her?"

Sasuke, now completely devoid of anger and emotion, slumped against a nearby tree.

For once, he decided, he needed his best friend's support.

With a huge intake of breath, Sasuke glanced up at Naruto, who was waiting calmly for Sasuke to talk, and looked down at the moist earth underneath his shoes.

Then, he began to quietly talk about the two weeks that Naruto was absent from, from the sweet beginning to the disastrous ending.

* * *

**Chapter 12- If Only You Knew…**

"So I can't do this anymore. After hurting her yesterday, I can't bear to face her," whispered Sasuke, still looking down at the ground, secretly fearful of what Naruto would say.

"…Wow…so that's what happened. You know, it doesn't seem like she's mad at you at all for hurting her. Heck, it seems like she doesn't even know," said Naruto.

"Even if she doesn't remember, even if she forgave me already, it doesn't change anything. Because I remember everything now and I don't forgive myself. Instead of healing her, I'm just doing the opposite. I always have. So I'm going to stop this now," said Sasuke, finally looking up at Naruto.

Naruto looked back with eyes of sympathy, "Sasuke, I'm sure everything will work out. Don't be too rash about this."

Sasuke sighed, "Naruto, I've already made my decision. I'm not going to change it," then he started walking back to the training area, convinced that Sakura already left.

Naruto looked down, his fierce eyes covered by his bangs, "…Then why don't you leave the village?"

Sasuke froze in place.

Naruto looked at Sasuke's back with fierce eyes, "If you think you're such a bad influence on Sakura, why aren't you thinking of leaving the village again?"

After a long pause, Sasuke finally whispered, "…You know I can't do that…"

Naruto glared, "Why not Sasuke? You've done it before," he said bitterly.

Sasuke turned around, with blazing Sharingan eyes, "Do you want me to leave? Just get up and leave, like I've never been here in the first place? You know I can do it if I want to."

"Yeah, you can. But you won't. You know why? Because you freaking love her, Sasuke. You love her so much that you can't risk hurting her anymore and are willing to just watch her from the sidelines. That's why you can't leave the village. You want to be with her, so badly that it hurts, but you think you don't deserve it. How stupid does that sound?"

Sasuke withdrew his Sharingan, suddenly appearing very tired and worn, "…Sacrificing my happiness for hers is love too," he said as he turned around and started walking again towards the training grounds.

Naruto quietly followed his friend and softly sighed in sorrow, _"Sasuke, haven't you thought that your happiness and Sakura's happiness are intertwined together?" _

When Naruto finally reached the training grounds, he saw Sasuke's frozen figure and hard eyes locked at something on the ground. When he looked over, he was surprised to see Sakura in Hinata's arms, unconscious. Hinata looked up at Naruto and with a sorrowful expression, nodded once. Sasuke remained silent and rigid.

"After you left into the forest, Sakura-chan fell to her knees. Then suddenly, she fainted in my arms. I checked over her with basic healing techniques, and she appears to be fine. But I think her bed will be better for her to rest than this ground," said Hinata, carefully watching Sasuke's expression turn from shock, to concern, to blank.

"Sasuke, I think you should take her to her home," said Naruto, looking over at his friend.

"Naruto, I can't—"

"Please, Sasuke. Just this once. For Sakura-chan."

Sasuke, after a long, blank look at Naruto, then Sakura, slowly bent down, placed his arms under Sakura's head and knees, and picked her up from Hinata. He then proceeded to silently walk out of the training grounds without a single word to the two left behind.

Hinata worriedly looked at Naruto, "Naruto-kun…I feel so bad for both of them. Is there any way we can help?"

Naruto looked at Hinata, and then at Sasuke's retreating figure, "I don't know Hinata. But I hope they will work things out together."

* * *

Thankfully, Sakura's apartment wasn't too far from the training grounds. Not that Sakura was heavy, but Sasuke couldn't help but look down at Sakura's face, and it unnerved him. Naruto's words from before echoed in his mind over and over again.

_"You know why? Because you freaking love her, Sasuke."_

Sasuke finally reached Sakura's apartment, pulled out the spare key from under the doormat (which Sakura told him about in case of emergencies), and went inside. He then walked to her bedroom and placed Sakura gently onto her bed. As he pulled away, he noticed a tear running down Sakura's cheek. Then another on the other side. Then another. Tears kept on falling from her closed eyes, and the sight broke Sasuke.

_"She's crying, again. I always make her cry," _thought Sasuke brokenheartedly as he continued to look down at Sakura.

_"Well, this might be the last time I come in contact with her. Might as well make the best of it, even though I might regret it later," _thought Sasuke as he reached down to wipe her tears away with his thumbs, then proceeded to lightly place his lips on her cheek.

Sasuke then pulled away and looked one last time at her face, engraving it into the back of his dark mind.

"Goodbye Sakura," he whispered as he turned and left without a backward glance.

When the front door was quietly shut, all was still and silent in the house.

Then suddenly, Sakura woke up with a gasp.

"Sasuke-kun!"

After frantically looking around the room and realizing that he was gone, Sakura looked down at her folded hands in front of her.

_"Oh Sasuke…if only you knew…"_

* * *

Many days have passed by since that incident in the forest, and no one, not even Naruto and Hinata, and especially not Sasuke or Sakura, spoke about it. Sakura, despite Hinata's concerned wishes for her to get some rest, claimed that she was perfectly fine and healthy and delved into her work with the usual vigor and passion. Sasuke haven't been seen in a couple days and many people were wondering what happened to him. Some people claimed he must be locking himself up in his great mansion while some other opinions bitterly assumed that he abandoned the village again. In truth, and known only to Naruto, Sasuke have just been doing the usual routine—eat, sleep, and train. To everyone else, all seemed completely normal, but to Naruto and Hinata, they could see the sadness and emptiness deep within their two friends.

"This is absolutely ridiculous!" yelled Naruto in frustration and stood up from his seat at Ichiraku's, momentarily ceasing his consumption of ramen.

Hinata, who was sitting next to him and eating as well, turned over and asked, "what are you talking about, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm talking about Sasuke and Sakura! Do they seriously think that they can just ignore and dodge each other and all will be fine?" Naruto sat back down and began to slurp the noodles furiously.

"Like I don't get it," mumbled Naruto, mouth full of ramen, "they are the smartest people I know, of course including you Hinata-chan, yet they can't even see what's in front of them! I swear that it's times like these that I'm more intelligent than they are!"

"Oh Naruto-kun, you're always intelligent, people just don't see it realize it right away. As for Sasuke-san and Sakura-chan, it hurts me to see them so distant when they truly have feelings for each other. Before even thinking about Sakura-chan's memories, I think bringing the two back on mutual terms is our top priority right now," said Hinata.

"Hmm….to bring them back together, if only there was something or someway…." Naruto thought aloud.

Suddenly, Hinata's head jerked up, "Wait, Naruto-kun! I think I have an idea! The Konoha Shinobi Ball!"

"The Ball! The—wait a minute. Hina-chan, I know you're excited to go and have a great time with me, but that doesn't mean Sasuke and Sakura will feel the same way. Knowing them, they will never decide to go!" said Naruto.

Hinata looked over at him with an amused glint in her eyes, "Exactly. So this is what we do…"

_To be continued…._

* * *

Hmm…I wonder what Hinata's brilliant plan will be. Any guesses?

By the way, sorry for the LOOOOONG delay everyone! I've been rather busy with college and personal stuff that I forgot about my beloved story. But hopefully I'll be able to update more often? Perhaps now that Thanksgiving and winter break is coming up?

Also, if you can, please leave a review! It's always heartwarming to see that people are enjoying my stories ^^

And for those of us on the east coast, be safe in the midst of hurricane Sandy!

Love, Cilla ^^


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